UPDATED: How EFCC officials compromised, assisted Binance executive to escape
Facts have emerged how some compromised officials of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) connived and helped Nadeem Anjarwalla, a Binance official, who was legally detained by the Nigerian authority, to escape on Friday, a top source within the security and intelligence circle have said.
WesternPost gathered that the officials who helped him were paid a yet to be disclosed amount to aid the escape of the Binance, an official at the EFCC said.
The source who asked not to be named because of fear of anonymity, revealed that the EFCC will soon issue a statement to inform Nigerians what happened and what they are doing to bring him to justice.
Reports on Monday indicated that Anjarwalla, a 37-year-old British-Kenyan and Binance’s regional manager for Africa is believed to have flown out of Abuja using a Middle Eastern airliner, despite his British passport.
In reaction, the NSA in a statement issued by its spokesperson, Zakari Mijinyawa, on Monday, said preliminary investigation shows that Anjarwalla fled Nigeria using a smuggled passport.
The NSA also said the personnel responsible for the custody of the suspect have been arrested, and a thorough investigation is ongoing to unravel the circumstances that led to his escape from lawful detention.
It further urges the Nigerian public and the international community to provide whatever information they have that can assist law enforcement agencies to apprehend the suspect.
Two of Binance’s top executives were arrested by Nigerian police for weeks on February 28.
Anjarwalla, a 37-year-old British-Kenyan who serves as Binance’s regional manager for Africa, and Tigran Gambaryan, a 39-year-old US citizen who oversees Binance’s financial crime compliance, were both employed by the company.
After arriving in Nigeria, Anjarwalla and Gambaryan’s passports were confiscated by ONSA and handed over to the EFCC.
A federal high court in Abuja ordered Binance Holdings Limited to give the EFCC all of the detailed information about every Nigerian who trades on its platform after the two executives were arrested as part of a larger crackdown on cryptocurrency platforms.
In addition, Binance has been charged with a crime and accused of tax evasion and non-registration with the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS).
Prior to this, the federal government had demanded at least $10 billion from Binance in retaliation for making money off of “its illegal transactions” in Nigeria.
