The executive of Binance held in Nigeria about a cryptocurrency issue manages to evade arrest
When the executive from Binance arrived in Nigeria after the company was targeted, he was taken into custody.
Authorities in Nigeria, where a criminal investigation has been opened against the cryptocurrency exchange platform for allegedly being used for money laundering, have reported that an executive of Binance has fled from detention.
According to a statement released on Monday by the office of Nigeria’s National Security Adviser, Nadeem Anjarwalla, the regional manager for Binance in Africa, “fled Nigeria using a smuggled passport.”
The Binance executive, who is dual-national in Kenya and the United Kingdom, was arrested on February 26 after he and a colleague landed in Nigeria after the firm was targeted.
Anjwaralla’s US-citizen colleague Tigran Gambaryan is still in custody.
Nigeria has the largest crypto economy in Africa in terms of trade volume, and a large number of its people use cryptocurrencies due to the country’s high inflation and depreciating local currency.
The National Security Adviser’s office in Nigeria’s spokesman, Zakari Mijinyawa, issued a statement saying, “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.”
Anjarwalla evacuated from a guest residence in the capital city after security granted him access to a nearby mosque for prayers, according to the Premium Times daily, published in Abuja. This information was first reported by the publication.
On April 4, the executives of Binance were scheduled to appear in court.
Early in March, Binance suspended trading with the Nigerian naira on its platform because to allegations from authorities that it was being used for money laundering and financing “terrorism.”
The charges have not been publicly substantiated by the authorities.
Meanwhile, Nigeria’s tax authorities accused the cryptocurrency exchange of “complicity in aiding customers to evade taxes through its platform” and filed a four-count tax evasion charge against it.
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