Kenya Insights

Tag: Tigran Gambaryan

  • Detained Binance Executive Escapes From Custody In Nigeria Using Kenyan Passport

    Detained Binance Executive Escapes From Custody In Nigeria Using Kenyan Passport

    Nadeem Anjarwalla, Binance director for West & East Africa and one of the firm’s two executives detained in Nigeria over tax evasion charges has escaped custody.

    According to reports from Nigerian media, the 38-year-old Briton, who also holds Kenyan citizenship, disappeared on Friday, March 22nd. Anjarwalla was allegedly allowed to leave the Abuja guest house, where he and a colleague were being held, for Ramadan prayers. Authorities believe he used this opportunity to escape.

    Guards on duty reportedly escorted Anjarwalla to a nearby mosque, adhering to religious customs during the holy month. However, the executive vanished during this brief outing.

    An Immigration source claims Anjarwalla used a Kenyan passport to flee the country on a Middle Eastern airline. Authorities are currently investigating how he obtained this passport, as he reportedly had only a British passport upon his arrest.

    This escape raises questions about security protocols at the detention facility and the potential involvement of the guards. The Nigerian government is likely to face heightened scrutiny as they work to recapture Anjarwalla and determine how he managed to escape.

    Why the Binance executives got arrested

    Tigran Gambaryan, a U.S. citizen and Binance’s head of financial crime compliance, and Anjarwalla, a British-Kenyan, flew to Nigeria following the country’s decision to ban several cryptocurrency trading websites and were detained on arrival on Feb. 26.

    The two were caught up in a crackdown following a period during which several cryptocurrency websites emerged as platforms of choice for trading the Nigerian currency, as the country battles chronic dollar shortages.

    A criminal charge was filed against the two executives before a Magistrate Court in Abuja. On 28 February 2024, the court granted the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) an order to remand the duo for 14 days. The court also ordered Binance to provide the Nigerian government with the data/information of Nigerians trading on its platform.

    Following Binance’s refusal to comply with the order, the court extended the remand of the officials for an additional 14 days to prevent them from tampering with evidence. The court then adjourned the case till 4 April 2024.

    Also on 22 March, the Nigerian government approached the Federal High Court in Abuja and slammed another four-count charge on Binance Holdings Limited, Mr Anjarwalla and Mr Gambaryan, accusing them of offering services to subscribers on their platform while failing to register with the Federal Inland Revenue Service to pay all relevant taxes administered by the Service and in so doing, committed an offence, contrary to and punishable under Section 8 of the Value Added Tax Act of 1993 (as Amended).

    The defendants were also accused of offering taxable services to subscribers on their trading platform while failing to issue invoices to those subscribers to determine and pay their value-added taxes and, in so doing, committed an offence contrary to and punishable under S.29 of the Value Added Tax Act of 1993 (as amended).

    Count Three of the charges accused the three defendants of offering services to subscribers on their Binance trading platform for the buying and selling of cryptocurrencies and the remittance and transfer of those assets while failing to deduct the necessary Value Added Taxes arising from their operations and thereby committing an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 40 of the Federal Inland Revenue Service Establishment Act 2007 (as amended).

    The last count of the charges wants the defendants punished for allegedly aiding and abetting subscribers on their Binance trading platform to unlawfully refuse to pay taxes or neglect to pay those taxes and, in so doing, committing an offence contrary to and punishable under the provisions of S.94 of the Companies Income Tax Act (as amended).

    The company announced early this month that it was stopping all transactions and trading in Nigeria’s naira currency after March 8.

    (Additional reporting by agencies)

  • Crypto Scandal: Kenyan Amongst Binance Executives Detained In Nigeria

    Crypto Scandal: Kenyan Amongst Binance Executives Detained In Nigeria

    When two executives from Binance arrived in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital city, to meet with the government over the role of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange in the country’s foreign exchange crisis, they were carrying only hand luggage, expecting to stay a few days.

    The first meeting on Feb. 26 started off neutral, the second took a hostile turn. The executives were escorted to their hotel, made to pack up their belongings and moved to a guesthouse, where their passports were taken.

    Against the backdrop of their detention, Nigeria is currently grappling with one of its most severe economic downturns in years, sparked by a sharp rise in inflation. The surge in prices is largely attributed to monetary strategies that have significantly devalued the currency. The naira has reached a historic low against the dollar. As a consequence, widespread discontent and demonstrations have erupted throughout the nation.

    In the midst of economic uncertainty, a growing number of Nigerians have embraced cryptocurrency as an alternative financial option. Recent statistics from Chainalysisreveal that Nigeria ranks second globally in crypto adoption, trailing only behind India.

    The exchange rate on Binance and other platforms, which reflect a parallel black market rate, continued to deviate from the official rate, which has been gradually depreciated.

    Nigeria has accused Binance of crashing the nation’s currency through rate manipulation for profit. The country is seeking a US$10 billion penalty from the company for processing $26 billion of untraceable funds in the country, according to reports.

    The two Binance executives who came to meet Nigerian officials remain detained, without being charged with any crimes.

    Both U.S. and U.K. authorities have been alerted of the detainment. Tigran Gambaryan, who lives in the U.S., is Head of Finance Crime Compliance for the Binance Security and Investigations Team. He also worked as a special agent for the Internal Revenue Service for over a decade until September 2021.

    The other executive, Nadeem Anjarwalla, Regional Manager of Africa, is a dual British-Kenyan citizen.

    On Feb. 28, the executive’s lawyers were told they would be held for two weeks while investigations took place. Both were taken to a medical center on March 4, and Anjarwalla was reportedly feeling unwell, according to family members. He refused to have tests without a foreign representative, fearing the results would be manipulated.

    Anjarwalla and Gambaryan’s next hearing — which was postponed until March 13 — failed to secure their release. While it didn’t explicitly extend the order allowing their detainment, they will remain in jail until an additional hearing on March 20, which gives Nigerian authorities more time to respond to the arguments of the Binance executives’ lawyers.

    Their families anxiously await their return. “I’ve been trying very hard to keep up the hope and stay optimistic,” Elahe Anjarwalla, Nadeem’s wife said while speaking to the media from Nairobi. “But it’s now day 18, it definitely does seem like it’s getting harder.”

    Binance has given few details publicly. “While it is inappropriate for us to comment on the substance of the claims at this time, we can say that we are working collaboratively with Nigerian authorities to bring Nadeem and Tigran back home safely to their families,” a Binance spokesperson told Consortium of journalists in statement. “We trust there will be a swift resolution to this matter.”

    But the Nigerian government doesn’t seem to be backing down. They are now asking Binance for information regarding its top 100 users in the country and transaction history spanning the last six months, according to reports.

    Anjarwalla said she has been chasing the British authorities, and that Wednesday was the first day they had called her “unprompted.”

    For now, Anjarwalla can only wait, and hope that her husband returns home in time for her son’s first birthday next week. “I’m anxiously hoping and praying that Nadeem will make it back in time for that,” she said.