Binance executive director, Nadeem Anjarwalla who escaped from custody in Nigeria, has been found in the east African country of Kenya.
This was made known by a source in the presidency who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Findings show that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, the International Criminal Police, the Nigeria Police Force, and the Kenyan Police Service have deepened talks to quicken Anjarwalla’s extradition.
“We know where he is. He is in Kenya, and we’re working with the authorities to bring him back to Nigeria”, the source said.
It would be recalled that the EFCC chairman, Ola Olukoyede, last month, in a statement, stressed that the commission is collaborating with INTERPOL, the US, UK, Northern Ireland and Kenyan authorities to extradite Anjarwalla, who has been on the run.
The commission had instituted five-count charges bordering on tax evasion, currency speculation and money laundering against Binance Holdings Limited, Tigran Gambaryan and Anjarwalla, the firm’s executives.
EFCC arraigned Binance and the two executives on Thursday, April 4, 2024.
Anjarwalla had escaped from custody on March 22 and has been at large since then.
Meanwhile, the government confirmed that EFCC had fully taken over the case of Binance from the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA).
For months, the Nigerian government sustained its crackdown on Binance over its role in manipulating the country’s Foreign exchange market.
During the 293rd meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee, MPC, in February, the Central Bank of Nigeria Governor, Olayemi Cardoso, had said that more than $26 billion had been funnelled through Binance without a trace.
According to Cardoso, many of the crypto transactions are through “sources and users that the apex bank cannot adequately identify”.
A Federal High Court in Abuja had also ordered Binance Holdings Limited to provide the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) with the comprehensive data or information of all persons from Nigeria trading on its platform.
Justice Emeka Nwite granted the interim order after ruling on the ex-parte motion moved by the lawyer representing the anti-corruption body, Ekele Iheanacho.
“The applicant’s application dated and filed 29th February 2024, is hereby granted as prayed,” the judge held.
“That an order of this honourable court is hereby made directing the operators of Binance to provide the commission with comprehensive data/information relating to all persons from Nigeria trading on its platform.”
The ex-parte motion, marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/259/2024, was brought pursuant to Sections 6(b), (h), (I), 7(1), (a)(2), and 38 of the Economic and Financial Crimes Establishment Act, 2004 and Section 15 of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022 (as amended) and the inherent powers of the court.
With the expected repatriation of Furgitive Nadeem Anjarwalla back to Nigeria from Kenya, the legal rigmaroles that may unfold in the casewould be interesting. The News Guru
