A Binance executive taken into custody last month in Nigeria fled the country just days before authorities charged him, his colleague and the cryptocurrency exchange with tax evasion.
Reminiscent of former Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn’s 2019 escape, Binance’s Nadeem Anjarwalla reportedly slipped away after asking to be taken to a mosque for Friday prayers as Ramadan heads into its final weeks, the Nigeria-based company said. Premium timeWith reported. Anjarwalla escaped on Saturday, Reuters reportedciting an unnamed person representing Binance executives.
On Monday, Binance confirmed that Anjarwalla, one of two employees held in the Nigerian capital Abuja since February, is no longer in the country.
“We have been informed that Nadeem is no longer in custody in Nigeria. Our primary focus remains on the safety of our employees and we are working with the Nigerian authorities to quickly resolve this issue,” a company spokesperson said in a statement to Luck.
After weeks of detaining two executives, the Nigerian Federal Revenue Service has officially charged cryptocurrency exchange for tax evasion on Monday and named two Binance employees as defendants. Officials accused the company of failing to pay value-added tax and corporate income tax, claiming it did not file tax returns in the country, Bloomberg reported. It also states that Binance allows its users to evade taxes. When asked to provide more information about the veracity of the allegations, Binance did not immediately respond.
Nigerian government disputes with cryptocurrency exchange for months on allegations that Binance facilitated money laundering and terrorist financing, and also played a role in the devaluation of the Nigerian currency, the naira. After suppression Regarding cryptocurrency exchanges and the arrest of their employees, Binance stopped allowing transactions using naira earlier this month.
In February, government officials invited Anjarwalla and Binance’s head of financial crime enforcement Tigran Gambarian to Nigeria for a short trip to try to smooth things over between the two sides. Instead, after a tense meeting with government officials, the two men were checked out of the hotel and escorted to a complex surrounded by surveillance cameras and guards, where they were kept for weeks, essentially under house arrest. Wall Street Journal reported.
A preliminary investigation by Nigeria’s National Security Adviser revealed that Anjarwalla fled the country on a “smuggled passport.” But an unnamed person representing Anjarwalla said he had done nothing wrong.
“Nadeem left his unlawful detention on Saturday 23 and was not tried by Nigerian courts and was not informed of any charges against him,” the person told Reuters.