Nadeem Anjarwalla, one of the two Binance executives arrested and detained in Nigeria for alleged tax evasion and other offences, has reportedly escaped from custody.
The Informant247 reports that the Federal Government had, in February, detained the two senior executives of Binance amidst efforts by the government to rein in speculation on the naira by cracking down on cryptocurrency exchanges.
The charges against Binance include non-payment of Value-Added Tax, Company Income Tax, failure to file tax returns, and complicity in aiding customers to evade taxes through its platform.
According to Premium Times, Anjarwalla, on Friday, escaped from the Abuja guest house where he and his colleague were being held.
He was said to have escaped after some guards on duty escorted him to a nearby mosque for prayers.
The British national, who also holds Kenyan citizenship, is suspected to have departed Abuja via a Middle East airline.
How Anjarwalla boarded an international flight despite his British passport, which he used to enter Nigeria, being held by Nigerian authorities remains unclear.
It was learned that the authorities are also working to unravel his intended destination to get him back into custody.
An Immigration official said the Binance executive fled Nigeria on a Kenyan passport.
The official disclosed that the authorities are working on unravelling how he obtained the passport, given that he had no other travel document (besides the British passport) when he was arrested.
According to another insider, the two officials were detained in a “pleasant guest house” and granted numerous privileges, such as access to telephones. Anjarwalla is suspected to have taken advantage of this opportunity to plan his escape.
The Head of Strategic Communication at the Office of the National Security Adviser, Zakari Mijinyawa, could not confirm the incident when contacted on Sunday night.
Mijinyawa promised to enquire and revert.
However, he has yet to do so as of the time of filing this report.