Binance Executive Escapes Nigerian Custody As Country Files Tax Evasion Charges: Report

Binance’s African regional manager is on the run from Nigerian authorities as the country targets the crypto exchange with tax evasion charges.

Earlier this month, two Binance executives were detained against their will in Abuja, Nigeria.

According to reports, Tigran Gambaryan, a former US federal agent who led the criminal investigations team at Binance, and Nadeem Anjarwalla, the crypto exchange’s regional manager for Africa, were held in the Nigerian capital and had their passports seized.

Now, according to a new report from Reuters, Nigeria is filing tax evasion charges for Anjarwalla, who fled the country on Friday of last week. Nigeria is also seeking an international arrest warrant for the African regional manager. According to the report, Nigeria is working with Interpol to apprehend the British-Kenyan Binance official.

An unnamed spokesperson for Anjarwalla said that the Binance official was being detained via unlawful means and therefore his leaving the country was warranted.

“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 Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) of Nigeria filed a lawsuit in Abuja against Binance on Monday, accusing the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange of four counts of tax evasion.

FIRS has accused Binance of several tax offenses, including not paying value-added tax (VAT), not paying company income tax, failing to file tax returns, and assisting customers in evading taxes through its platform. Binance has not yet released an official statement on the tax charges.

Earlier this month, Binance also discontinued support for the Nigerian Naira.

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Featured Image: Shutterstock/jovan vitanovski