Binance Executive Escapes Nigerian Detention

Binance executive flees detention amid Nigerian crypto investigation

One of the two Binance executives imprisoned in Nigeria has fled, and the Nigerian government has filed additional tax evasion allegations against the global cryptocurrency exchange.

According to several local media sources, Nigeria's Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) stated on Monday that four fresh tax evasion cases had been filed at the Federal High Court in Abuja.

According to sources, Binance is facing prosecution for suspected nonpayment of Value-Added Tax (VAT) and corporate income tax, failure to submit tax returns, and involvement in assisting clients to avoid taxes using its platform.

Nigerian authorities prosecuted and detained two top executives, U.S. citizen Tigran Gambaryan and British-Kenyan Nadeem Anjarwalla, along with the corporation.

Over the weekend, it was reported that Anjarwalla escaped from the Abuja guest home where the duo was being held.

"We were informed that Nadeem is no longer in Nigerian custody. Our major concern remains the safety of our staff, and we are working with Nigerian authorities to promptly settle this matter," a Binance spokeswoman told CNBC.

According to Reuters, Nigeria is in negotiations with Interpol about obtaining an international arrest order for Anjarwalla.

The family of the two employees declined to comment at this time, but did so on March 20, following a hearing in which Nigerian officials extended their detention.

Elahe Anjarwalla, Anjarwalla's wife, said she was "completely heartbroken" that he would not be home for their son's first birthday.

One month in custody

Gambaryan and Anjarwalla were arrested in Nigeria on February 26, although neither was charged with any crimes. The Abuja government accused their employer of causing havoc with the country's currency.

The Nigerian naira is one of the world's worst-performing currencies, losing over 70% of its value versus the US dollar during the previous year. Locals have rushed to cryptocurrencies in recent years to protect their investments from the depreciating currency and increasing inflation rate, which reached over 30% two months ago.

However, Binance's issues in Nigeria look to be more of an attack on what Abuja perceives to be a negative actor in the market than a cryptocurrency crackdown.

Nigeria has two main worries about Binance: the fact that the government has no idea where money goes or how it flows through the exchange, and the exchange's alleged facilitation of naira price speculation via its peer-to-peer marketplace.

The authorities claimed that Binance was laundering money and that $26 billion in untraceable monies passed via the exchange.

Authorities in Abuja have also claimed that dealers utilizing this P2P network to swap local money for US dollar-pegged stablecoins such as tether were conspiring on price to maximize exchange value.

Abuja has already taken issue with Binance. In July 2023, Nigeria's Securities and Exchange Commission issued a circular advising consumers to avoid doing business with the exchange, stating that "any investing public dealing with this entity" was doing so at a "high level of risk" that "may result in total loss of investments."