A former Assistant Director of the Department of State Services (DSS), Dennis Amachree has alleged that the fleeing Binance executive Nadeem Anjarwalla rubbed hands with some conniving security agents to escape from 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 expert said the Office of the National Security Adviser (NSA) should have transferred Anjarwalla to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) or the secret police for custody.
According to him, the suspect and his colleague at the cryptocurrency exchange platform, Tigran Gambaryan, should have been placed on watch-list when they were detained in Abuja late February.
He added that Anjarwalla and Gambaryan should have been placed on watchlist with the Nigeria Immigration Service and 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.”
Until his escape, Anjarwalla, who holds British and Kenyan citizenship and serves as Binance’s Africa Regional Manager, was facing trial in the courts.
Meanwhile, the Federal Government said it has activated all operations including contacting Interpol to ensure the re-arrest Anjarwalla.
The Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Zack Adedeji, told State House Correspondents on Monday that all litigations filed against Anjarwalla would be pursued to a logical conclusion.
He also doused the tension over whether the Federal government will lose the fine slammed on the 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 since focused on cryptocurrency websites, accusing them of speculation, clamping down on them through telecommunication companies.
In February, the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Olayemi Cardoso, said $26bn suspicious flows in the form of crypto exchanges passed through Binance.
That month, Anjarwalla and Gambaryan were arrested in Nigeria and the government demanded about $10bn compensation from the cryptocurrency platform on allegations of manipulation of foreign exchange rates which has negatively affected the value of the naira against the dollar.
The crypto platform subsequently ended its naira services while the House of Representatives has resolved to investigate the national security implications of cryptocurrency, and other digital asset transactions.
The government approached the court to compel Binance to publish the names of its Nigerian traders but the platform won’t budge.
It also filed tax evasion charges against the platform.
