Fleeing Binance executive arrested in Kenya, faces extraction to Nigeria this week

Kenyan police authorities have reportedly apprehended Mr. Nadeem Anjarwalla, an executive associated with the cryptocurrency platform, Binance, who fled Nigeria recently.

The International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) stated that they are working towards extraditing Anjarwalla to Nigeria within the week.

After escaping from an Abuja guest house on March 22, Anjarwalla was sighted in Kenya, where he is said to be currently detained by security agents.

Persecondnews reports that Anjarwalla was said to have escaped after guards led him to a nearby mosque for prayers during Ramadan.

Government sources in Kenya have purportedly verified Anjarwalla’s detention by the country’s police.

Efforts to bring Anjarwalla to justice have involved collaborative discussions between various law enforcement agencies, including Nigeria’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the International Criminal Police, the Nigeria Police Force (NPF), and the Kenyan Police Service.

These discussions have centered on the extradition of Anjarwalla, with the EFCC confirming their intentions to pursue extradition in their bulletin for March.

The takeover of the prosecution of Binance chiefs by the commission is no less a strong message in the direction of the EFCC’s resolve to hedge in distortions and disruptions in the country’s forex market,” the anti-graft agency’s chief, Ola Olukoyede, said.

Tax evasion, currency speculation, and money laundering to the tune of $35,400,000 are at the foundation of the Commission’s five counts 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 in full swing.

“Involved in partnership with the EFCC to nick Anjarwalla in flight are the International Criminal Police Organization, 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,” he said.