According to Premium Times, Nadeem Anjarwalla, one of two Binance executives detained in Nigeria on charges of tax evasion and other offenses, has escaped from legal custody.
According to Premium Times, Mr. Anjarwalla allegedly escaped from a guest house in Abuja on Friday, March 22, where he was being held in detention. The report states that he was led to a nearby mosque by the guards on duty for prayers in accordance with the Ramadan fast. This raises questions about the security measures in place and the circumstances surrounding Mr. Anjarwalla’s escape.
According to reports, Mr. Anjarwalla, who is a British and Kenyan national, is believed to have fled Nigeria via a flight with a Middle Eastern airline. It is unclear how he was able to travel internationally despite the fact that his British passport was reportedly still in the possession of the Nigerian authorities.
Premium Times reports that Nigerian authorities are working to determine Mr. Anjarwalla’s intended destination and recapture him. An immigration official who spoke to the outlet stated that Mr. Anjarwalla left Nigeria on a Kenyan passport, but it remains unclear how he obtained the passport as his British passport was reportedly in the custody of the Nigerian authorities at the time of his escape.
Mr. Anjarwalla, the Africa regional manager for Binance, and Tigran Gambaryan, a US citizen who oversees financial crime compliance at the crypto exchange, were detained in Nigeria on February 26, 2024. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) filed criminal charges against the two executives before a Magistrate Court in Abuja. The court ordered that they be remanded for 14 days and also ordered Binance to provide information on Nigerians trading on its platform.