Nigeria says wanted crypto boss Arjarwalla is holed up in Kenya

Nigerian media reports quoting the Nigerian government claim that Arjarwalla went into hiding in Kenya after escaping custody.

The Standard had not yet received confirmation from Kenyan authorities or Binance regarding Arjarwalla’s presence in Kenya or their cooperation in the extradition process by press time.

However, Nigerian media outlets reported that the Nigerian government is working with Interpol and Kenyan police to bring Arjarwalla back to face charges.

Arjarwalla arrived in Nigeria in February amid accusations of manipulating the Nigerian currency. He was detained with another Binance executive following a meeting with Nigerian officials.

The country’s Economic and Financial Crime Commission, which led the investigation, slapped the cryptocurrency exchange and its two executives with five counts bordering on money laundering.

However, Anjarwalla reportedly escaped custody on March 22 and was able to board a flight out of the Nigerian capital, Abuja.

Nigeria’s security adviser’s office said it is working with Interpol to go after Anjarwalla, according to local media reports.

Binance in a recent report told Reuters News Agency that it was aware that Anjarwalla was no longer in Nigerian custody and was working with authorities to resolve the issue.

Anjarwalla and Tigran Gambaryan, a US citizen and Binance’s head of financial crime compliance flew to Nigeria following the country’s decision to ban several cryptocurrency trading websites and were detained on arrival on February 26.

A person representing them, who asked not to be named earlier told Reuters that the two officials were being held unlawfully since their detention order expired on March 12, adding that Anjarwalla left Nigeria by lawful means.

“Nadeem left unlawful custody on Saturday 23, he was not being tried by Nigerian courts and has not been informed of any charges against him,” the person told Reuters, according to its news report.

Nigerian authorities had asked a court in Abuja to extend the detention of the two Binance executives after the warrant under which they were initially detained lapsed, according to an earlier report.