ONSA: Security Agencies Working with Interpol to Apprehend Fleeing Binance Executive

•Officers responsible for his custody arrested 

•FIRS files tax evasion charges against cryptocurrency company 

• Says Binance failed to register operations, collect, remit various taxes to federation 

•We are collaborating with Nigerian authorities to quickly resolve issue, company declares 

•My husband treated well, seemed comfortable, Binance executive’s wife told UK newspaper

Emmanuel Addeh, Chuks Okocha, Kingsley Nwezeh and James Emejo in Abuja

The Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), yesterday, said security agencies were working with the International Police (Interpol) to apprehend fleeing Binance executive, Nadeem Anjarwalla.

ONSA confirmed the escape of Anjarwalla, the suspect in the ongoing criminal probe into the activities of Binance, a crypto currency organisation, from lawful custody.

It said those responsible for Anjarwalla’s custody had been arrested.

Equally, yesterday, the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) announced that it had initiated criminal proceedings against the embattled cryptocurrency exchange platform.

The global cryptocurrency exchange company said it was cooperating with the Nigerian authorities to quickly resolve the current issue.

The NSA, in a statement, said preliminary investigation showed that Anjarwalla fled Nigeria using a smuggled passport.

The statement signed by Head, Strategic Communication Office of the National Security Adviser, Zakari U. Mijinyawa, stated, “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.”

The federal government had been investigating money laundering and terrorism financing transactions perpetrated on the Binance currency exchange platform.

Anjarwalla and his American colleague were detained for, allegedly, using their company to engage in activities deliberately aimed at damaging the naira.

Until his escape, Anjarwalla, who held British and Kenyan nationalities, and served as Binance’s Africa regional manager, was being tried by Nigerian courts. The suspect escaped while under a 14-day remand order by a court in Nigeria.

He was scheduled to appear before the court again on April 4, 2024.

The statement read, “The Office of the National Security Adviser confirms that Nadeem Anjarwalla, a suspect in the ongoing criminal probe into the activities of Binance in Nigeria, has escaped from lawful custody on Friday, 22 March 2024.

“Upon receiving this report, this office took immediate steps, in conjunction with relevant security agencies, MDAs, as well as the international community, to apprehend the suspect. Security agencies are working with Interpol for an international arrest warrant on the suspect.

“Preliminary investigation shows that Mr. Anjarwalla fled Nigeria using a smuggled passport.

“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.

“Recall that the Federal Government of Nigeria, like other governments around the world, has been investigating money laundering and terrorism financing transactions perpetrated on the Binance currency exchange platform.

“Until his escape, Nadeem Anjarwalla, who holds British and Kenyan nationalities and serving as Binance’s Africa regional manager, was being tried by Nigerian courts.

“The suspect escaped while under a 14-day remand order by a court in Nigeria. He was scheduled to appear before the court again on 4 April 2024.

“We urge the Nigerian public and the international community to provide whatever information they have that can assist law enforcement agencies to apprehend the suspect.”

FIRS said it had initiated criminal proceedings against the embattled cryptocurrency exchange platform.

The move was aimed at upholding fiscal responsibility and safeguarding Nigeria’s economic integrity, according to a statement issued by Special Adviser on Media to the FIRS Executive Chairman, Mr. Dare Adekanmbi.

The charges were filed yesterday at the Federal High Court in Abuja by the service, in a lawsuit designated with reference number FHC/ABJ/CR/115/2024.

Binance was slammed with a four-count tax evasion charge.

Joined in the lawsuit with the crypto exchange as second and third defendants, respectively, were Tigran Gambaryan and Anjarwalla, both senior executives of Binance.

Gambaryan is currently under the custody of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), while Anjarwalla escaped.

The charges levelled against Binance included non-payment of Value-Added Tax (VAT), Company Income Tax, failure to file tax returns, and complicity in aiding customers to evade taxes through its platform.

In the suit, the federal government also accused Binance of failure to register with FIRS for tax purposes and contravening existing tax regulations within the country.

One of the counts in the lawsuit pertained 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.

Adekanmbi stated, “Any company that transacts business above N25 million annually is deemed by the Finance Act to be present in Nigeria.

“According to this rule, Binance falls into that category. So, it has to pay taxes like Company Income Tax (CIT) and also collect and pay Value Added Tax (VAT).

“But Binance did not do this properly. So, the company broke Nigerian laws and could be investigated and taken to court for this infraction.”

The statement added that the federal government remained resolute in its commitment to ensuring compliance with tax regulations and combating financial impropriety within the cryptocurrency sector.

FIRS is by law empowered to assess, collect, and account for revenue accruing to the federation and administer relevant tax laws.

Binance had pleaded guilty to flouting anti-money laundering laws in the United States in late 2023, settling for a plea bargain that cost the company $4.3 billion.

Binance said it was aware that Anjarwalla was no longer being held in custody in Nigeria.

The spokesperson for Binance, Samantha Fuller, revealed in a statement yesterday that the company would continue to protect the safety of its staff regardless of the situation.

Fuller stated, “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.”

Meanwhile, wife of Anjarwalla, Elahe, last week told The Sunday Times, UK, that although her husband’s movement was largely restricted, she was aware that he was being treated well and was comfortable.

Anjarwalla was said to have taken only an overnight luggage when he flew to Nigeria late last month, leaving his wife and 11-month-old son at home and was planning to return home after a day of business meetings.

Anjarwalla, 37, and an American colleague, Tigran Gambaryan, 39, were under detention in a guarded house, according to the Sunday Times report.

The Binance’s Regional Manager for Africa, and Gambaryan, its head of financial crime compliance, flew to Abuja, the Nigerian capital, on February 25 and reportedly held meetings the next day with officials from the central bank and the securities regulator, which seemed to go well, before they were escorted back to their hotel.

“Then things took a menacing turn. The men were told to pack their belongings and taken to a ‘guest house’ run by the National Security Organisation. A Nigerian court had ordered their detention for two weeks pending an investigation…They are allowed to use phones occasionally, but only in the presence of guards,” the report added.

Elahe, 34, said at their home in Nairobi, Kenya, while defending her husband,  that both Binance executives had nothing to do with the declining value of the local currency.

“I’m no expert on the Nigerian economy but Nadeem and Tigran have nothing to do with the freefall of the currency…There is food, they seem comfortable and looked after, for which I am grateful, but their movements are very restricted.

“They’re not allowed to leave the house, for example,” Elahe said, noting that  she was worried about her husband’s health after learning — though not from him, that he had requested treatment for suspected malaria.

Anjarwalla worked previously for a venture capital company and was general manager of Uber Eats in Kenya. He attended exclusive educational establishments, including Rugby school in Warwickshire, Oxford University and Stanford in the United States. His wife went to Sevenoaks School in Kent and also to Stanford before going to work at the Boston Consulting Group, an American management consultancy.

During the interview, she worried that he may miss the first birthday of their son, who was born in London, where the couple have a flat in Paddington.

“I try to give Nadeem the chance to have one-to-one chats with him which tend to be a lot of fun and games. He’ll ask ‘what noise does an elephant make, what noise does a lion make?’ He plays peekaboo games,” she added.

Her husband has received two British consular visits. However, both were conducted in the presence of Nigerian authorities, she complained. “He has not been able to have a private and open conversation with consular staff,” she said, expressing frustration by the seeming indifference of the British government to her husband’s plight.

It was two weeks until she received a phone call from the Foreign Office “unprompted”. “That’s been really quite frustrating. As a family member waiting to hear what’s happening you’d want more proactive communication and it hasn’t been as forthcoming as I would have thought,” she said.

But Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) said the escape from lawful custody of the Binance executive was a clear sign that there were persons in position of authority in the security architecture of Nigeria who were ready to compromise national security on the altar of pecuniary benefits.

HURIWA also said the embarrassing development was a clear demonstration that Nigeria had become compromised by corruption. It said, thus, there should be severe and immediate consequences for the breach of national security, which the staged escape of the fugitive from lawful custody demonstrated.

HURIWA, in a statement by its National Coordinator, Emmanuel Onwubiko, said failure to provide adequate security and surveillance around the escaped Anjarwalla, which allowed him to escape, was a matter of urgent national security.

According to HURIWA, “The Nigerian state should look at these lapses from the point of view of possible compromise with corruption, which has totally tarnished the image of Nigeria and painted a graphic picture of a country whereby the national security can very seamlessly be compromised, even by foreigners, who, allegedly, (are) in deep-seated conflict with the laws of Nigeria.

“We call on the president to fire the National Security Adviser and the Comptroller General of Nigerian Immigration for allowing, either wilfully or by dereliction, this high profile breach of Nigeria’s national security because what has happened can be equated with actively aiding and abetting sabotage of Nigeria’s economy.

“For the Nigerian Immigration Service and the office of the National Security Adviser not to be able to provide concrete evidence that there was no compromise that allowed this fugitive to escape from lawful custody, then there must be very serious consequences.”

HURIWA stated that it remained unclear how Anjarwalla got an international flight, despite his British passport with which he entered Nigeria that was in the custody of the Nigerian authorities.

HURIWA tasked the federal government to ensure that the serious breach of national security was not allowed to slide into the dustbin of impunity.