One of the two Binance executives detained in Nigeria for alleged tax evasion and other offences, Nadeem Anjarwalla who is in charge of Binance operations in East and West Africa has reportedly escaped from detention and left Nigeria.
Reports suggest that Mr Nadeem Anjarwalla escaped on Friday, 22 March, from the Abuja guest house where he was being detained alongside his colleague after guards on duty led him to a nearby mosque for prayers in the spirit of the ongoing Ramadan fast.
It is believed that he exploited the privileges of having access to phones and internet to plot his escape including procuring a new Kenyan passport, since his British passport was submitted to the security agencies. With his Kenyan passport, the Binance executive was able to fly out of Abuja and Nigeria aboard a Middle East airline.
The Binance executives were detained amidst a crackdown on the crypto trading platform by the Nigerian government over the arbitrary fixing and manipulation of the dollar to naira rate that Binance allowed users to be engaging in on its platform. This the CBN complained contributed to the chronic rate volatility recorded in the foreign exchange market especially at the parallel market.
The two executives initially flew into Nigeria to negotiate a truce with the federal over blocking of the Binance website in Nigeria but were detained and subsequently charged to court on some criminal counts bordering of tax evasion and money laundering.
This escape, if confirmed by the Nigerian authorities, will be a huge embarrassment to the security agencies and the country.