The International Criminal Police Organization for Africa (INTERPOL Africa) says they have completed the extradition papers for Nadeem Anjarwalla, Binance executive who fled detention in Nigeria.
According to CoinTelegraph, Garba Umar, Interpol Africa’s Vice President, revealed this information to Nigerian local news outlets, citing efforts of the organization towards extraditing the Binance executive to Nigeria.
In his interview, Mr. Garba stated that the organization is actively working with the governments of different countries to provide necessary documentation that will hasten the extradition of Anjarwalla to Nigeria.
With regard to the whereabouts of the escaped Binance executive, Interpol confirmed that Anjarwalla is not in custody but was last seen in Kenya.
- “I’m not aware but what I can tell you is that the last destination I know on my record of this guy when he fled (Nigeria) was Kenya. That I can confirm to you.” Garba said
Garba noted that Interpol has contacted all countries that Anjarwalla was believed to have transited on his escape from Nigeria to Kenya, recovering information that is classified and cannot be shared.
Anjarwalla reportedly fled Nigeria on a Middle Eastern airline despite his main passport, which is British, being in the custody of the Nigerian government.
Gambaryan, the second Binance executive still held in Nigeria, pleaded not guilty to charges while Anjarwalla remains at large.
Gambaryan’s wife and well-wishers have launched a petition that has gathered over 4,161 signatures to bring back the detained executive to the United States.
On Feb. 27, the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria argued that crypto exchanges in Nigeria were handling illicit transactions and pointed to suspicious flows of funds at Binance.
This led to a spat between Binance and Nigerian authorities that saw two executives of the latter detained in the country. Binance has ceased its cryptocurrency services in Nigeria.
What to Know
- Nardeem Anjarwalla, who was detained with his colleague Tigran Gambaryan on charges of money laundering and tax evasion, escaped custody under the National Security Adviser on March 22 and fled to Kenya.
- On March 5, Binance announced that it intended to cease all naira transactions, effectively exiting the market.
- Binance also mentioned that Binance’s peer-to-peer platform delisted all naira trading pairs in late February.
