That embarrassing escape of Binance detainee, Anjarwalla
THE escape of detainee executive of Binance, Mr. Nadeem Anjarwalla, from a guest house where he and his colleague, Tigran Gambayan were kept, courtesy of the National Security Adviser ( NSA) to the President, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, is a security breach that must not go without appropriate investigation and punishment. No matter when and how Anjarwalla is repatriated to continue his trial, that escape as well as those who facilitated it must be penalised for subjecting the country to international ridicule.
The Briton, who is also a Kenyan citizen, was reported to have escaped and flown out of Abuja on Friday, March 22, 2024, after he was allowed by guards to worship at a nearby mosque. He was believed to have boarded an international flight undetected without his British passport, with which he entered the country. The passport was in the custody of Nigerian Authorities at the time he escaped. It was alleged that he fled Nigeria using a Kenyan passport; a puzzle Immigration officials are yet to unravel, given that the Binance executive had no other travel document on him apart from the British passport at the time he was taken into custody.
Anjarwalla, Binance’s Africa regional manager and Tigran Gambayan, his colleague who oversees financial crime compliance at the crypto exchange platform had been detained since February 26, 2024, when they arrived in Nigeria. A criminal charge was filed against them before a Magistrate Court in Abuja on February 28, 2024. The court then granted the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission ( EFCC), an order to remand them for 14 days. The court equally ordered Binance to provide the Federal Government with data and other information about Nigerians trading on the platform. The case was subsequently adjourned to April 4, 2024.
On March 22, the Federal Government approached the Federal High Court in Abuja to add more charges on Binance Holdings Limited, Mr. Anjarwalla and Mr. Gambaryan, for offering services to subscribers on their platform and failing to register with the Federal Inland Revenue Services ( FIRS), to pay relevant taxes charged by the Service to government, contrary to Section 8 of the Value Added Tax Act of 1993, as amended. They were accused of offering taxable services without issuing invoices to enable subscribers to determine taxes to be paid, contrary to Section 29 of the Value Added Tax Act of 1993, as amended.
They were charged also, for offering services to subscribers on their Binance trading platform for the buying and selling of cryptocurrencies and for the remittance and transfer of those assets without deducting the necessary Value Added Taxes arising from their operations, thereby contravening Section 40 of the Federal Inland Revenue Service Establishment Act 2007, as amended.
It was in the process of providing answers to these weighty allegations, that Anjarwalla bolted in very disturbing circumstances, particularly at a time government was making efforts to unveil elements who engage in the crime of money laundering as well as those who secretly finance terrorism, using all manner of platforms and taking advantage of lax enforcement of extant regulations. These suspects also allegedly engage in currency speculation and other acts that distort the true value of the Naira, thus frustrating the efforts to stabilise the economy.
To say the least, this development makes a mockery of Nigeria and is a major embarrassment to the entire security value chain, beginning with the Office of the NSA, which reportedly took charge of safe- keeping of the suspects, preferring to quarter them in a cozy guest house where they were availed access to phones and other means of communication.
Experts have queried the justification for the NSA keeping suspects, where their ordinary abode would have been the detention centres of the EFCC or those of the Department of State Security ( DSS), which have direct investigative jurisdictions of the matter. This has been evaluated as a breach of security protocol and the office of the NSA should explain the reason( s) for this meddlesomeness.
The guards that were put in charge of the guest house and their supervisors should also explain to Nigerians their actions, which amount to deliberate laxity and allowing the suspect to go for Jumat prayers without appropriate monitoring.
Also, the Immigration officials who attended to and facilitated the exit of the fleeing suspect at whatever port of departure have to explain why they acted in a manner that humiliated the country. Government should not treat this in the usual anything- goes attitude that has become a worrying feature of the country’s governance system. Nigeria cannot be known for the most bizarre occurrences and still carry on as if all is well, simply because there are no consequences for public malfeasance.
There are reports that the fleeing fugitive has been located in Kenya. The government should use every means to smoke him out and bring him to face justice. Investigators and prosecutors should ensure that this case is properly followed through and that nothing is allowed to jeopardise the prosecution. The fact that the prime suspect could easily bolt from an NSArecommended detention centre points to a case of insider collaboration, and that could still be exploited to frustrate prosecution. No stone should be left unturned to ensure that there is punishment for all who are found wanting in this matter.