- Minister tells DL News manhunt is still active.
- Nadeem Anjarwalla escaped custody last March.
- There’s an Interpol red notice out for his arrest.
He’s the one who got away.
In the long running legal clash between Nigeria and Binance, Nadeem Anjarwalla has seemingly been lost in the shuffle.
But the Binance executive who was detained with colleague Tigran Gambaryan last February and managed to make an escape worthy of a John le Carré novel is still a wanted man.
And the government in Abuja, as well as Interpol, are on the hunt, Alhaji Mohammed Idris, the country’s information minister, told DL News in an exclusive interview.
“Nadeem Anjarwalla actually did escape lawful custody, and this is against our laws,” Alhaji Idris said.
“Nigeria made a case with Interpol to apprehend him and bring him back to face justice.”
In March 2024, Anjarwalla managed to elude his guards following a prayer service at a mosque during Ramadan.
Anjarwalla, a British lawyer who was Binance’s regional chief based in Nairobi, had surrendered his British passport when he was detained in February.
Yet he secretly kept his Kenyan passport and used it to board a flight out of Nigeria before the authorities could catch up with him.
Red notice
The episode embarrassed Nigeria’s security service.
In April 2024, Nigerian officials said Anjarwalla was the target of an Interpol red notice and that he had been traced to Kenya.
Yet there haven’t been any further developments released to the public about his whereabouts, or the status of Nigeria’s manhunt.
Binance has long denied that the company or its executives did anything unlawful in Nigeria.
The minister stopped short of revealing details.
Gambaryan told Wired last month that Anjarwalla suffered anxiety attacks during his detention.
After Anjarwalla’s escape, Nigeria intensified the prosecution of Binance and Gambaryan on money laundering and tax evasion charges.
On Wednesday, Alhaji Idris told DL News that Nigerian authorities found evidence that terrorists and kidnappers used Binance to handle illicit funds.
Alhaji Idris compared Gambaryan’s case favourably with that of Anjarwalla.
Gambaryan spent seven months in detention in Kuje Prison last year before his release on humanitarian grounds in October.
“Tigran, who stayed behind, was facing justice until there was this diplomatic discussion and backchannel efforts to ensure he gets released,” he said.
Anjarwalla will still face justice, the minister suggested. That is, if he gets caught.
Osato Avan-Nomayo is our Nigeria-based DeFi correspondent. He covers DeFi and tech. Got a tip? please contact him at osato@dlnews.com.
