Detained Binance Executive Escapes from Custody in Nigeria After Visiting Mosque for Ramadan

Detained Binance Executive has escaped from custody in Nigeria after visiting a Mosque for Ramadan.

Newsone Nigeria reports that one of the two Binance executives, Nadeem Anjarwalla, who was held behind bars in Nigeria on suspicious tax evasion and other offences, escaped from detention.

A report monitored on Premium Times by Newsone Nigeria, says the 38-year-old Anjarwalla broke free from the Abuja guest house on Friday, March 22, where he was being held along with a companion. The guards there had led him to a nearby mosque for prayers in observance of the ongoing Ramadan fast.

This online news platform understands that the detained Binance Executive, a British citizen, who is also a Kenyan, is thought to have taken a Middle East airliner out of Abuja, Nigeria’s capital.

Although Anjarwalla entered Nigeria using a British passport which was in the possession of Nigerian authorities when he escaped, it is still unclear how he managed to board a foreign flight.

To rearrest him, authorities are reportedly investigating his intended destination.

The report cited an Immigration official who stated that the Binance executive used a Kenyan passport to leave Nigeria. But considering that he was carrying only the British passport and no other travel documents, the official said that police were attempting to ascertain how he got the passport.

The two officials were in a “comfortable guest house,” according to a different source. Numerous privileges were allegedly granted to them, including the ability to use telephones, which Anjarwalla took advantage of to plan his escape.

Newsone recalls that Anjarwalla, the regional manager for Binance in Africa, and Tigran Gambaryan, a US citizen in charge of the cryptocurrency exchange platform’s financial crime compliance, were arrested when they arrived in Nigeria on February 26, 2024.

The two Binanace executives were charged with a crime by the Federal Government of Nigeria led by President Bola Tinubu before an Abuja magistrate court.

Nigeria’s anti-graft agency, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) was permitted by the court on February 28, 2024, to detain the two individuals for 14 days.

The Nigerian government was also required by the court to get data and information about Nigerians who trade on Binance’s platform. The court prolonged the officials’ detention for an extra 14 days to stop them from tampering with the evidence after Binance disobeyed the order. The case between the government and Binance was postponed by the court until 4 April 2024.

Also, on 22 March, the Nigerian government approached the Federal High Court in Abuja.

Another four-count charge brought by the government against Binance Holdings Limited, Anjarwalla, and Gambaryan alleges that they provided services to users of their platform without registering with the Federal Inland Revenue Service and failing to pay all applicable taxes managed by the service, thereby committing an offence against and punishable under Section 8 of the Value Added Tax Act of 1993 (as Amended).

The Federal government of Nigeria claims that Binance provided taxable services to users of their trading platform but neglected to send them invoices so they could calculate and pay their value-added taxes. By doing this, they violated S.29 of the Value Added Tax Act of 1993 (as modified) and committed an infraction.