The Kenyan passport of a Binance executive allowed him to escape from detention in Nigeria in a surprising turn of events. On Friday, March 22, Nadeem Anjarwalla, one of the two Binance executives detained by the Nigerian government, managed to flee from custody. According to local media outlet Premium Times, Anjarwalla escaped from a mosque near their guest house in Abuja and his current whereabouts are unknown. The executive, aged 38, took advantage of being taken to the mosque for Ramadan prayers by the security guards and absconded during the prayers. It is believed that he left the Nigerian capital using an international Middle East airline. Anjarwalla and his colleague, Tigran Gambaryan, were detained by the Nigerian government upon their arrival in February 2024. They, along with Binance, were charged with financial fraud and manipulating the Nigerian currency, leading to a depreciation in the naira and other currencies.
The Nigerian authorities confiscated all of Anjarwalla’s documents during his detention and only found his British passport. However, reports suggest that the executive managed to obtain a Kenyan passport while in custody. It is unclear how he acquired the passport, but sources speculate that he may have used the access to phone calls provided by the enforcement agency to plan his escape. The Nigerian authorities are currently investigating the matter and plan to release an official statement soon. They are also working on determining the flight destination in order to bring Anjarwalla back into custody.
The case against Binance has been prolonged due to the exchange’s refusal to appear before the Nigerian court or disclose transaction details for Nigerian users. This has resulted in the continued detention of its executives. Binance has also decided not to pay fines imposed by the Nigerian government to restore its services or release its detained staff. As a result, Binance delisted the NGN denomination from its platform and terminated all payment services related to the Nigerian naira. The Nigerian government has responded by blocking access to Binance sites and recently restricted access to its application. Interestingly, these actions by the Nigerian government seem to have had a positive effect on the naira, as the currency has significantly recovered against the dollar.
In addition to the situation in Nigeria, Binance has recently faced regulatory scrutiny from the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The exchange reached a $4.3 billion settlement with the SEC, which included the resignation of its CEO, Changpeng Zhao.
