Anjarwalla Nadeem, an executive at Binance Holdings, is facing extradition from Interpol’s Nigerian Central Bureau (NCB). He had left Nigeria’s jurisdiction to avoid legal proceedings.

Garba Umar, the head of the Nigerian NCB, disclosed on April 30 during a local Sunrise Daily program that they have completed the necessary paperwork for Anjarwalla’s extradition. Umar mentioned that they are collaborating with various governments to issue a Red Notice against Anjarwalla and provide the required treaties, memoranda of understanding, and other documents to facilitate his return to Nigeria for trial.

Although Umar did not confirm Anjarwalla’s current location, he stated that the last known sighting was in Kenya:

“I’m not aware, but I can tell you that the last destination I knew of this guy when he fled Nigeria was Kenya. That I can confirm to you.”

Umar also mentioned that Interpol had contacted all the countries Anjarwalla might have traveled through and gathered some specific information that couldn’t be disclosed on the program.

Anjarwalla’s escape and Gambaryan’s legal battle

Nadeem Anjarwalla and his colleague Tigran Gambaryan faced money laundering and tax evasion charges in Nigeria. However, on March 22, Anjarwalla managed to escape from Nigerian custody and fled to Kenya.

Anjarwalla reportedly left Abuja on a flight operated by a Middle Eastern airline. Despite this, it’s unclear how he was able to board the international flight since Nigerian authorities still held his UK passport, which he used to enter Nigeria.

While Anjarwalla made his escape, Gambaryan chose to plead not guilty to the charges.

After spending weeks in detention, Gambaryan’s wife and supporters began advocating for his release. His wife initiated a petition to bring him back to the United States, which garnered 4,161 signatures at the time of writing. Gambaryan is set for his next bail hearing on May 17.

Binance exits Nigerian market amid regulatory concerns

In a move that surprised many, Binance, one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges, declared on March 5th that it would no longer support Nigerian naira transactions, effectively withdrawing from the Nigerian market. This decision followed the earlier delisting of all naira trading pairs from its peer-to-peer trading platform in late February.

The governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria had raised concerns about the operations of crypto exchanges in Nigeria on February 27th. He alleged that these exchanges facilitated illicit transactions and highlighted “suspicious flows” of funds related to Binance.

This sequence of events has sparked discussions about the regulatory landscape surrounding cryptocurrency trading in Nigeria, with stakeholders considering the implications for users and the broader financial ecosystem.