Authorities in Nigeria, where a criminal investigation has been opened into the cryptocurrency exchange, Binance, on charges that it was used for money laundering, announced on Monday that an official of the platform had escaped from detention.
The office of Nigeria’s National Security Adviser stated in a statement that Nadeem Anjarwalla, the regional manager for Binance in Africa, “fled Nigeria using a smuggled passport” and asked for “any information that can assist law enforcement agencies to apprehend the suspect.”
In terms of trade volume, Nigeria is the largest crypto economy in Africa. A lot of its people use cryptocurrency as a financial hedge against rising inflation and depreciating native currency.
Anjarwalla, who is a dual citizen of Kenya and the United Kingdom, has been held in Nigeria since he and a colleague arrived in the nation on February 26 in response to a crackdown on a cryptocurrency website. The American citizen colleague, Tigran Gambaryan, is still being held captive.
Early in March, Binance suspended all transactions using the Nigerian naira on its platform due to allegations made by the government that it was being used for financing terrorism and money laundering, even though they had not released any supporting documentation.
It was unclear how Anjarwalla got out of jail. The story of his escape was first published in the Abuja-based Premium Times newspaper. It stated that he left the capital city’s guest house after being guided by security to a nearby mosque for prayers.
