A former Assistant Director of the Department of State Services (DSS), Dennis Amachree, has claimed that Nadeem Anjarwalla, the Binance executive who fled, collaborated with certain corrupt security agents to evade custody.
Amachree made this claim in an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Monday.
He said, “Binance executive, Nadeem Anjarwalla has rubbed hands with some security agents who facilitated his escape. I am happy they have arrested some of them, they should tell us exactly what happened.”
The security analyst suggested that the Office of the National Security Adviser (NSA) ought to have transferred Anjarwalla to either the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) or the secret police for custody.
He further proposed that Anjarwalla and his associate at the cryptocurrency exchange platform, Tigran Gambaryan, should have been placed on a watch-list when they were detained in Abuja in late February.
Moreover, he emphasized that Anjarwalla and Gambaryan should have been added to a watch-list maintained by the Nigeria Immigration Service, with their photos and names flagged at all airports across the country.
Amachree said, “If the man has been flagged as a threat or a suspected person, he should have been watchlisted.
“I don’t know whether the NSA has a detention facility. The NSA is an advisory body to the President. So, if he (NSA Nuhu Ribadu) felt that the suspects should be remanded, he should have sent him to the EFCC or the DSS to keep until the date of the court but to keep him in a guest house where he has access to telephone?
“For them now to allow him to go and pray? I think there are a lot of loopholes and lapses there. We have held heads of state in detention.
“So, I don’t see why this particular guy will be allowed to go to the nearest mosque to pray and dissapeared. There is a compromise,” he said.
Recall that the NSA office said Anjarwalla escaped from custody when he observed a Jumat prayer last Friday, March 22, 2024, in Abuja, the nation’s capital.
“Preliminary investigation shows that Mr Anjarwalla fled Nigeria using a smuggled passport,” it said.
“The personnel responsible for the custody of the suspect have been arrested, and a thorough investigation is ongoing to unravel the circumstances that led to his escape from lawful detention.”
Prior to his escape, Anjarwalla, who holds citizenship in both Britain and Kenya, and serves as Binance’s Africa Regional Manager, was undergoing trial in the courts.
Meanwhile, the Federal Government has announced that it has initiated all necessary operations, including contacting Interpol, to facilitate the re-arrest of Anjarwalla.
Zack Adedeji, the Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), informed State House Correspondents on Monday that all legal proceedings against Anjarwalla would be pursued until a resolution is reached.
He also alleviated concerns regarding whether the Federal government would forfeit the fine imposed on Binance.
“It doesn’t matter because we are dealing with a company, not individual. So, irrespective of where they are in the world, we have what it takes to make sure they come and comply with our laws,” he stated.
The Federal Government has shifted its focus to cryptocurrency websites, alleging speculation and taking measures to curb them through telecommunication companies.
In February, Olayemi Cardoso, the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), disclosed that $26 billion of suspicious flows in the form of crypto exchanges had passed through Binance.
During that same month, Anjarwalla and Gambaryan were apprehended in Nigeria, and the government demanded approximately $10 billion in compensation from the cryptocurrency platform on grounds of manipulating foreign exchange rates, which purportedly adversely impacted the value of the naira against the dollar.
Consequently, the crypto platform discontinued its naira services, and the House of Representatives has resolved to probe the national security implications of cryptocurrency and other digital asset transactions.
The government resorted to legal action to compel Binance to disclose the identities of its Nigerian traders, but the platform remains unyielding.
Additionally, tax evasion charges were filed against the platform.