Nadeem Arjarwalla, a fugitive executive from Binance, has been located in Kenya after escaping from custody in Nigeria. Nigerian authorities, in collaboration with Interpol and Kenyan police, are currently implementing measures for his extradition to Nigeria to face the charges against him.
Details of the Escape and Location of the Binance Executive
“We have found him. We know where he is. He is in Kenya and we are working with the authorities to bring him back to Nigeria.”
A source close to the Nigerian presidency
Arjarwalla arrived in Nigeria in February following accusations that the exchange had manipulated the country’s fiat currency, the Nigerian naira. He was detained along with another Binance executive after a meeting with the Nigerian government.
However, he allegedly escaped custody on March 22nd and managed to board a flight from the Nigerian capital, Abuja, with a Middle Eastern airline. The exact circumstances of his boarding remain unclear, as his British passport, which he used to enter Nigeria, was still held by Nigerian authorities.
Legal Implications and Repercussions for Binance
The Nigerian presidency office, through internal sources quoted by a local media outlet, revealed that Arjarwalla had been hiding since his arrival in Kenya. Authorities are now trying to understand how he was able to acquire a Kenyan passport, as he did not possess any other travel documents during his detention.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in Nigeria leads the investigation and has charged the Binance exchange platform and its two executives with five counts of money laundering.
Status of the Other Binance Executive and Binance
While Arjarwalla is out of the country, the other Binance executive, Tigran Gambaryan, has pleaded not guilty to the charges. His wife and others have called for his release after several weeks in detention.
Gambaryan’s wife has launched a petition to bring him back to the United States, which had 3,373 signatures at the time of publication. Nonetheless, Gambaryan’s case has been adjourned until April 19th.
On March 5th, Binance announced its intention to cease all naira transactions, thereby withdrawing from the market. Binance’s peer-to-peer platform also removed all naira trading pairs at the end of February.
On February 27th, the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria supported claims that cryptocurrency exchanges in the country were suspected of facilitating illicit transactions, also pointing to “suspicious” fund flows at Binance.
