Cryptocurrency platform Binance has confirmed to the BBC that one of its executives who had been arrested by the authorities in Nigeria is no longer in custody, amid reports he escaped from the country.
Nadeem Anjarwalla, who holds both British and Kenyan passports, was arrested last month together with a colleague, Tigran Gambaryan, as part of a tax evasion probe against Binance.
A Binance spokesperson said on Monday: “We were made aware that Nadeem is no longer in Nigerian custody.
“Our primary focus remains on the safety of our employees and we are working collaboratively with Nigerian authorities to quickly resolve this issue.”
Earlier, we reported that the authorities have now formally filed tax evasion charges against the firm and named Mr Anjarwalla among the defendants.
Nigeria’s authorities have been clamping down on cryptocurrency platforms over allegations they are being used for money laundering and financing terrorism.
Mr Anjarwalla, who is Binance’s Africa Regional Manager, and Mr Gambaryan, a US citizen in charge of financial crime compliance at the firm, were arrested shortly after their arrival in Nigeria on 26 February.
A court granted the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission’s (EFCC) request to detain the two executives for 14 days, before extending the duration by another fortnight.
Mr Anjarwalla and Mr Gambaryan were due to appear again in court on 4 April. However, in the last 24 hours, reports of Mr Anjarwalla’s apparent escape began to emerge.
Local media in Nigeria have reported that he asked the guards at a guest house he was being held in to allow him to attend a mosque last Friday, but he never returned.
It was reported that Nigerian authorities had confiscated his British passport but the whereabouts of his Kenyan passport was unknown.
