The Nigerian government has recently accused Binance of manipulating exchange rates and being a loophole for illegal money laundering. Two high-ranking executives were even detained when they flew to the country for negotiations in February. However, the latest news on Monday revealed that one of the detained executives has escaped from custody and left the country, while the other executive remains in detention.
Nadeem Anjarwalla’s escape from detention in Nigeria
The Nigerian government added four new tax evasion charges against Binance
In the previous month, the Nigerian government banned Binance, Coinbase, and several other exchanges, accusing Binance of “manipulating exchange rates” and causing a 70% devaluation of the country’s currency, the Naira, as well as being involved in money laundering. At that time, two Binance executives who went to Nigeria in late February for negotiations with the authorities were even detained by the Nigerian government.
However, according to local media outlet “Premium Times” on the 25th, Nadeem Anjarwalla, the 38-year-old Binance regional manager for Africa with dual British and Kenyan citizenship, has escaped from custody and left the country by boarding a Middle Eastern Airlines plane in the Nigerian capital, Abuja. On the other hand, Tigran Gambaryan, the American executive responsible for compliance at Binance who was detained along with Anjarwalla, continues to be in custody.
A source revealed that the two Binance executives were detained at a hotel operated by the Nigerian National Security Advisor’s Office, where they enjoyed many privileges, such as the use of telephones. It is believed that Anjarwalla planned his escape using the excuse of fasting for Ramadan and had a duty guard take him to a nearby mosque. He then successfully used his Kenyan passport to board an international flight and leave the country (his British passport, which he used to enter the country, had previously been confiscated by the Nigerian government).
According to BBC reports, the Nigerian National Security Advisor’s Office (ONSA) stated in a statement that Anjarwalla fled the country with a “smuggled passport.” However, Anjarwalla’s family insists that he left through legal means.
ONSA also emphasized that the Nigerian authorities are cooperating with Interpol in issuing an “international arrest warrant” for the suspects, and stated that the personnel responsible for detaining the suspects have been arrested and are being investigated for the circumstances that led to Anjarwalla’s legal detention.
In response to this, a Binance spokesperson stated:
In addition, supplementary reports reveal that Anjarwalla escaped the day after the Nigerian Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) issued four criminal charges related to tax evasion against him, the other detained executive, and Binance. Binance was accused of not paying value-added tax and corporate income tax, not submitting tax returns, and conspiring to help customers evade taxes through its platform.
Regarding the charges from Nigeria, Binance had previously responded publicly, pointing out that Binance has always cooperated substantially with the Nigerian government, including actively cooperating with investigations related to financial crimes and assisting in training investigators. Binance also emphasized its continuous cooperation with Nigerian law enforcement agencies to promote responsible growth.
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