By Abiola Olawale
A United States District Court, on Tuesday, April 30, convicted the founder and former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, Changpeng Zhao, of violating US laws against money laundering.
Subsequently, the US District Judge, Richard Jones, sentenced Zhao to four months in prison.
In his rulings, Jones faulted Zhao for making Binance’s growth and profitability a higher priority than complying with US laws.
Relatedly, the International Criminal Police Organisation (Interpol) says efforts are underway to extradite Binance’s regional manager for Africa, Nadeem Anjarwalla, to Nigeria for prosecution.
Vice president of the Interpol (Africa) executive committee, Garba Umar, disclosed this in an interview with Channels Television on Tuesday, April 30.
_The New Diplomat_ recalls that Anjarwalla and Tigran Gambaryan, Binance’s head of financial crime compliance, were charged with tax evasion and money laundering by the federal government of Nigeria.
The duo were arrested and detained on February 28, but on March 22, Anjarwalla escaped from a guest house in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital city, where he and Gambaryan, his colleague, had been kept by the federal government.
Anjarwalla was said to have escaped after guards led him to a nearby mosque for prayers in the spirit of the Ramadan fast.
_The New Diplomat_ also recalls that in November 2023, Zhao pleaded guilty to a money laundering charge preferred against him by prosecutors at the US district court.
The 47-year-old admitted to violating the Bank Secrecy Act by willfully failing to set up an effective anti-money laundering system at Binance, the cryptocurrency exchange he founded and ran as CEO from July 2017 to November 2023.
US prosecutors had argued before the court to sentence Zhao to three years in prison after he pleaded guilty to violating laws against money laundering.
They argued that Binance failed to report more than 100,000 suspicious transactions with designated terrorist groups including Hamas, al Qaeda, and the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS.
Prosecutors said Binance’s platform also supported the sale of child sexual abuse materials and was a recipient of a large portion of ransomware proceeds.
Zhao, commonly known as CZ, agreed to pay $50 million and cease involvement with Binance, which he founded in 2017.
Binance’s penalty included a $1.81-billion criminal fine and restitution of $2.51 billion.
Anjarwalla, the Binance regional manager, who holds British and Kenyan citizenship, reportedly fled Nigeria with a passport from the East African country.
The Kenya Police had arrested Anjarwalla when he surfaced in the country, according to reports last week.
However, Mr Umar, the vice president of the Interpol (Africa) executive committee, did not confirm the reports in his Channels television interview, but noted that Kenya is where the fleeing crypto chief was last seen.
Umar said, “I’m not aware but what I can tell you is that the last destination I know on my record of this guy (Anjarwalla) when he fled (Nigeria) was Kenya. That I can confirm to you.”
Umar added that Interpol has contacted all countries where Anjarwalla was believed to have transited and “we got some certain information, which is not possible to share on this platform.
“Rest assured, we located where he was, how he boarded, all information about him and how he landed. We have done that to make sure that he doesn’t escape justice,” he said.
Umar said that the Binance executive will be returned to Nigeria to face trial once a red notice has been issued and circulated to concerned countries.
He said, “Now, it is not only morally right but it is legally right for the country to get him apprehended, inform the requesting country that ‘the fugitive you are looking for has been apprehended and is in our custody. Can you come and take him over’?
“This is the process. He may be in Kenya, he may be in hiding, he might have even left Kenya but because of the notices we have given, wherever he is, he will be smoked out,” he added.
Meanwhile, Gambaryan is currently in the custody of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) after his arraignment.
Yuki, Gambaryan’s wife, appealed to the federal government to release her husband, saying he had no influence on Binance’s corporate decisions.
