Detained Binance Executive Reportedly Escapes From Custody, Flee Nigeria

Nadeem Anjarwalla, one of the Binance executives jailed for alleged tax evasion and other offenses, has reportedly fled from police custody.

According to Premiumtimes, Anjarwalla, 38, escaped from the Abuja guest home where he and his colleague were arrested on Friday, 22 March, when guards brought him to a local mosque for Ramadan prayers.

The Briton, who also has Kenyan citizenship, is reported to have flown out of Abuja aboard a Middle Eastern aircraft.

It is unknown how Mr Anjarwalla was able to board an international aircraft despite the fact that his British passport, which he used to enter Nigeria, is still in Nigerian authorities’ possession.

Authorities are also claimed to be seeking to uncover his intended destination in a bid to get him back into custody.

An immigration official stated that the Binance executive departed Nigeria using a Kenyan passport. He did, however, say that officials were investigating how he acquired the passport, given that he had no other travel documents (other than the British passport) on him when he was apprehended.

Another source stated that the two officials were housed in a “comfortable guest house” and given extensive liberties, including the use of cellphones, which Mr Anjarwalla is thought to have used to organize his escape.

When notified Sunday night about the Binance executive’s escape from arrest, Zakari Mijinyawa, Head of Strategic Communication at the Office of the National Security Adviser, stated he will investigate and respond. So yet, he has not done so  as of the time of filing this report.

Mr Anjarwalla, Binance’s Africa regional manager, and Tigran Gambaryan, a US citizen overseeing financial crime compliance at the crypto exchange platform, were detained upon their arrival in Nigeria on 26 February 2024