FG set to repatriate fleeing Binance Executive, Anjarwalla, says he’s hiding in Kenya
Joseph Irikefe
The Federal Government has traced the fleeing Binance executive, Nadeem Anjarwalla, to Kenya, where he is hiding after escaping from custody in Nigeria.
It was reported on March 25 that one of the two executives of Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange who were arrested in Nigeria had escaped the custody of the country’s security operatives.
It was said that Anjarwalla, 38, fled from the Abuja guest home where he and his colleague were detained on Friday, March 22, when guards took him to a nearby mosque for prayers because of the ongoing Ramadan fast.
According to insiders, there is a likelihood that Anjarwalla, who also has Kenyan citizenship, flew out of Abuja on a Middle East airliner.
Sources close to the matter also disclosed that the Nigerian government, subsequently, contacted the International Criminal Police Organisation (Interpol) and issued an arrest warrant for the apprehension of Anjarwalla.
PUNCH reports that with the new discovery, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, the International Criminal Police, the Nigeria Police Force and the Kenyan Police Service are in talk on extradition of Anjarwalla.
Citing sources in the Presidency who are on top of the case, the Binance chief went into hiding immediately after he landed in Kenya.
“We have found him. We know where he is. He is in Kenya, and we’re working with the authorities to bring him back to Nigeria,” the report quoted one of the sources to have said.
Another source also close to the matter corroborated the first source’s statement.
The source noted, “All hands are on the deck. The government and all the security agencies are working hard in conjunction with the Kenyan authorities and INTERPOL, to ensure his return to Nigeria to face the charges brought against him.”
Meanwhile, the EFCC Chairman, Ola Olukoyede, had in the March edition of the agency’s bulletin titled, “EFCC Alert,” which was released last week, confirmed that the commission was working in conjunction with the International Criminal Police Organisation, the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation, the governments of the United Kingdom, Northern Ireland, and Kenya to extradite Anjarwalla.
Olukoyede noted, “The takeover of the prosecution of Binance chiefs by the commission is no less a strong message in the direction of EFCC’s resolved to hedge in distortions and disruptions in the country’s forex market.
“Tax evasion, currency speculation and money laundering to the tune of $35.4m are at the foundation of the commission’s five-count charges against Binance Holdings Limited, Tigran Gambaryan and Nadeem Anjarwalla, the company’s chief executives.
“While Gambaryan is currently in the commission’s net, the process of extraditing the fleeing Anjarwalla is revving in full swing.
“Involved in partnership with the EFCC to nick Anjarwalla in flight are the International Criminal Police Organisation, the United States’ Federal Bureau of Investigation, the governments of the United Kingdom, Northern Ireland, and Kenya as the clock winds down to his arraignment in absentia alongside the company and Gambaryan.”
Meanwhile, insiders disclosed that there is skepticism in some government quarters whether the Kenya government will agree to extradition request of the Nigerian following the illegal rendition of Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), and extraordinary rendition to Nigeria without extradition process in 2021.