Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) says it is on the trail of the Binance executive, Nadeem Anjarwalla, who escaped from the ONSA custody.
Reports on Monday indicated that Anjarwalla, a 37-year-old British-Kenyan and Binance’s Regional Manager for Africa, is believed to have flown out of Abuja using a Middle Eastern airliner, despite his British passport.
In reaction, the ONSA in a statement issued by its spokesperson, Zakari Mijinyawa, on Monday, said preliminary investigation shows that Anjarwalla fled Nigeria using a smuggled passport.
The ONSA also said the personnel responsible for the custody of the suspect have been arrested, and a thorough investigation is ongoing to unravel the circumstances that led to his escape from lawful detention.
It further urged the public and the international community to provide whatever information they have that can assist law enforcement agencies to apprehend the suspect.
Two of Binance’s top executives were arrested by Nigerian police for weeks on February 28. Anjarwalla, a 37-year-old British Kenyan who serves as Binance’s regional manager for Africa, and Tigran Gambaryan, a 39-year-old US citizen who oversees Binance’s financial crime compliance, were both employed by the company.
After arriving in Nigeria by air, Anjarwalla and Gambaryan’s passports were confiscated by ONSA.
Anjarwalla reportedly became unwell while being held in jail in Nigeria, and on March 12, he was moved to a nearby hospital.
A federal high court in Abuja ordered Binance Holdings Limited to give the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) all of the detailed information about every Nigerian who trades on its platform after the two executives were arrested as part of a larger crackdown on cryptocurrency platforms.
In addition, Binance has been charged with a crime and accused of tax evasion and non-registration with the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS).
Prior to this, the Federal Government had demanded at least $10 billion from Binance as punishment for making money off of “its illegal transactions” in Nigeria.
