REPORT: Shock As Binance Executive Allegedly Escapes From Custody, Flees Nigeria

An Executive of the crypto exchange platform, Binance, Nadeem Anjarwalla detained by the Federal Government over alleged tax evasion has allegedly escaped from custody sending shock waves across security circles.

No official response has been issued since the news broke of Anjatwalla’s escape, which is still shrouded in secrecy.

THE WHISTLER could not make any independent verification regarding the escape as reported by Premium Times on Monday.

Anjarwalla, Binance’s Africa regional manager and his colleague, Tigran Gambaryan, a US citizen overseeing financial crime compliance at Binance were detained upon their arrival in Nigeria on February 26.

According to Premium Times, Anjarwalla, and Gambaryan, who have been in custody in an “Abuja Guest House”, escaped on Friday, after he was led by a guard to a nearby mosque to pray to observe the ongoing Ramadan fast.

The paper said Anjarwalla, believed to also be a Kenyan citizen flew out of Abuja using a Middle East airliner despite having his British passport with the Nigerian authorities.

The Binance executives are currently facing criminal charges in court. A Magistrate Court in Abuja had granted the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) an order to remand the duo for 14 days, and that they (Binance) provide the Nigerian government with the data/information of Nigerians trading on its platform.

The crypto trading platform although refused to comply with the order, was again ordered to be remanded for an additional 14 days to prevent them from tampering with evidence.

The Binance executives were subsequently slammed with another four-count charge, accusing them of failure to register with FIRS for tax purposes and contravening existing tax regulations within the country.

One of the counts in the lawsuit pertains to Binance’s alleged failure to collect and remit various categories of taxes to the federation as stipulated by Section 40 of the FIRS Establishment Act 2007 as amended.

Section 40 of the Act explicitly addresses the non-deduction and non-remittance of taxes, prescribing penalties and potential imprisonment for defaulting entities.

The charges further detailed specific instances where Binance purportedly violated tax laws, such as failing to issue invoices for VAT purposes, thus obstructing the determination and payment of taxes by subscribers.