By Abiola Olawale
The fleeing Binance executive, Nadeem Anjarwalla, has reportedly been tracked down and arrested by the Kenya Police Service.
Anjarwalla, who escaped from lawful custody in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital city, was said to have been tracked down to Kenya with the help of a team of several security agencies, which include the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the International Criminal Police Organisation (INTERPOL), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Nigeria Police Force (NPF), and the Kenya Police Service.
With the reported arrest of the fleeing Binance chief, the Kenya authorities are said to be working closely with the Nigerian authorities on a possible extradition.
An insider source said the extradition process is expected to be completed within a week.
Mr Anjarwalla, the regional manager for Binance in Africa, “fled Nigeria, using a smuggled Kenyan passport,” the Office of the National Security Adviser (NSA), headed by Mallam Ribadu, had said in a statement following Anjarwalla’s escape from custody.
_The New Diplomat_ reports that the EFCC had filed five-count charges bordering on alleged tax evasion, money laundering, and others against the cryptocurrency giant and two of its executives, Anjarwalla and Gambaryan.
The court documents revealed that the charges were filed on Thursday, March 28, 2024, before the Federal High Court of Nigeria, Abuja division.
The charges read, “That you, Binance Holdings Limited (aka Binance) Tigran Gambaryan, and Nadeem Anjarwalla (now at large), between January 2023 and January 2024 in Abuja, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, carried on specialised business of other financial institution without valid licence and thereby committed an offence contrary to section 57(1) and (2) of the Banks and Other Financial, Institutions Act, 2020 and punishable under section 57(5) of the same Act.
“Count two, that you, Binance Holdings Limited (aka Binance) Tigran Gambaryan, and Nadeem Anjarwalla (now at large), between January 2022 and January 2024 in Abuja, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, engaged in business of other financial institution (other than insurance, stock broking and pension fund management) without valid licence and thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under section 58(5) of the Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act, 2020.
“Count three, that you, Binance Holdings Limited (aka Binance), between January 2022 and January 2024 in Abuja, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, not being an authorised dealer in Nigeria’s Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market, used your virtual asset services platform to unlawfully negotiate foreign exchange rates in Nigeria, and you thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under section 29(1)(c) of the Foreign Exchange (Monitoring And Miscellaneous Provisions) Act.
“Count four, that you, Binance Holdings Limited (aka Binance), Tigran Gambaryan, Nadeem Anjarwalla (now at large), and other persons at large, between January 2023 and January 2024 in Abuja, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, conspired amongst yourselves to conceal the origin of the proceeds of your unlawful activities and thereby committed an offence contrary to section 21(a) and punishable under section 18(3) of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.
“Count five, that you, Binance Holdings Limited (“aka Binance”), Tigran Gambaryan and Nadeem Anjarwalla, between January 2023 and December 2023 in Abuja, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, concealed the origin of a cumulative sum of $35,400,000 generated as revenue by Binance in Nigeria, knowing that the funds constituted proceeds of unlawful activity and you thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under section 18(3) of the Money Laundering (Prevention and prohibition) Act, 2022.”
Also on March 22, the Nigerian government approached the Federal High Court in Abuja and slammed another four-count charge on Binance Holdings Limited, Anjarwalla, and Gambaryan, accusing them of offering services to subscribers on their platform while failing to register with the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) to pay all relevant taxes administered by the service.
