By Police authorities in Kenya have reportedly arrested Nadeem Anjarwalla, an executive of cryptocurrency platform Binance, who fled Nigeria some weeks ago.
Anjarwalla had escaped from custody in Nigeria following the Federal Government’s crackdown on the cryptocurrency platform in a bid to strengthen the naira.
While the Nigerian authorities later traced Anjarwalla to the East African nation, multiple reports say the Binance executive is now in the custody of the Kenyan police.
According to the reports, government sources in Kenya confirmed that the Binance chief is now in the custody of the country’s police.
In March, the EFCC confirmed plans to extradite the Binance chief in the agency’s bulletin for the month.
“The takeover of the prosecution of Binance chiefs by the commission is no less a strong message in the direction of 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 and are at the foundation of the Commission’s five counts against Binance Holdings Limited, Tigran Gambaryan and Nadeem Anjarwalla, the company’s chief executives.
Until his escape, Anjarwalla, who holds British and Kenyan citizenship and serves as Binance’s Africa Regional Manager, was facing trial in Nigerian courts.
The suspect escaped while under a 14-day remand order by a court. He was scheduled to appear before it again on April 4, 2024.
In recent months, the Nigerian government has heightened its crackdown on Binance. Anjarwalla was one of the cryptocurrency chiefs arrested in the wake of the tussle.
“In the last year,” CBN governor Yemi Cardoso said, “more than $26 billion have been funnelled through Binance without trace”.
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