Binance Executive Flees Nigerian Custody Amidst Tax Evasion Accusations

By: Eva Baxter

Binance executive, Nadeem Anjarwalla, has reportedly escaped detention in Nigeria. Anjarwalla, a dual citizen of Kenya and the UK, was detained, along with another executive, Tigran Gambaryan, as a part of a crackdown on the crypto giant by the Nigerian authorities and subsequently charged with tax evasion.

Reports suggest that Anjarwalla disappeared during Friday prayers at a mosque in Abuja and later boarded a flight under the guise of a Kenyan passport, inviting questions on how he obtained this new document. The Nigerian authorities are currently believed to be conducting covert operations to ascertain Anjarwalla's whereabouts and facilitate his return to custody.

The ongoing conflict between Nigeria and Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange by market volume, continues to escalate with the recent developments. The Nigerian authorities had previously accused Binance of manipulating foreign exchange rates for personal profit, which had led to the blockage of their websites and the detention of two senior executives.

This current development along with the unresolved issues surrounding Binance’s overdue compliance to Nigerian High Court's direction of providing user data to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), adds another layer of complexity to this standoff.