Several local Nigerian media outlets reported on Monday, citing a statement from the local tax regulatory authority, that the regulatory body has filed four criminal charges related to taxation against the Binance cryptocurrency exchange. These charges include “failure to pay Value Added Tax (VAT), corporate income tax, failure to file tax returns, and conspiring to help clients evade taxes through its platform.”
Prior to this, the Nigerian government publicly accused Binance of manipulating the Nigerian Naira through speculation, leading to a depreciation of nearly 70% in recent months. Two senior executives of Binance in Nigeria, Tigran Gambaryan, the Chief Compliance Officer for Financial Crimes, and Nadeem Anjarwalla, the Regional Manager for Africa, were even detained.
According to the latest report from local media outlet “Premium Times,” Nadeem Anjarwalla escaped from detention last week and boarded an international flight to flee Nigeria. It is reported that Nadeem Anjarwalla escaped during the period of Ramadan while being taken to a mosque for prayers. Immigration officials stated that Nadeem Anjarwalla used a Kenyan passport when leaving the country. (Nadeem Anjarwalla is a British national and also holds Kenyan citizenship.) Authorities are currently trying to determine how he obtained the passport because, at the time of his detention, he did not have any other travel documents besides his British passport.
Another source claimed that the two Binance executives were detained in a “comfortable guesthouse” and were granted many privileges, including the use of phones. It is believed that Nadeem Anjarwalla may have taken advantage of these privileges to plan his escape.
