Anjarwalla was said to have escaped after guards on duty led
him to a nearby mosque for prayers in the spirit of the ongoing Ramadan fast.
He is believed to have flown out of Abuja using a Middle
Eastern airliner — but how he got on an international flight despite his
British passport, was unknown.
ONSA said “upon receiving this report, this office took
immediate steps, in conjunction with relevant security agencies, MDAs, as well
as the international community, to apprehend the suspect”.
“Security agencies
are working with Interpol for an international arrest warrant on the suspect,”
the statement added.
“Recall that the Federal Government of Nigeria, like other
governments around the world, has been investigating money laundering and
terrorism financing transactions perpetrated on the Binance currency exchange
platform.
“Until his escape, Nadeem Anjarwalla, who holds British and
Kenyan nationalities and serving as Binance’s Africa regional manager, was
being tried by Nigerian courts.
“The suspect escaped while under a 14-day remand order by a
court in Nigeria. He was scheduled to appear before the court again on 4 April
2024.
“We urge the Nigerian
public and the international community to provide whatever information they
have that can assist law enforcement agencies to apprehend the suspect.”
BACKGROUND
On February 28, two of Binance’s top executives –
Anjarwalla, a 37-year-old British-Kenyan and Binance’s regional manager for
Africa; and Tigran Gambaryan, a 39-year-old US citizen and Binance’s head of
financial crime compliance, were detained by the Nigerian authorities for
weeks.
Anjarwalla and Gambaryan had flown into Nigeria but had
their passports seized by ONSA.
On March 12, Anjarwalla was transferred to a local hospital
after he fell ill while in detention in Nigeria.
Following the arrest of the two executives as part of a
broader clampdown on crypto platforms, a federal high court in Abuja ordered
Binance Holdings Limited to provide the Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission (EFCC) with the comprehensive data or information of all persons
from Nigeria trading on its platform.
Binance has also been accused of evading tax, failing to
register with the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) and currency speculation.
The federal government had requested at least $10 billion as
retribution from Binance for profiting from “its illegal transactions” in
Nigeria.
Bayo Onanuga, special adviser on information and strategy to
President Bola Tinubu, who had disclosed this in an interview with the BBC,
said the cryptocurrency platform was causing massive losses for “fixing
exchange rates”.
