Binance’s African regional manager is on the run from Nigerian authorities as the country accuses the crypto exchange of tax evasion.
Earlier this month, two Binance executives were held against their will in Abuja, Nigeria.
According to reports, Tigran Gambaryan, a former US federal agent who led Binance’s criminal investigation team, and Nadeem Anjarwalla, the crypto exchange’s regional manager for Africa, were detained in the Nigerian capital and had their passports confiscated.
Nigeria is now filing tax evasion charges against Anjarwalla, who fled the country last Friday, according to a new report from Reuters. Nigeria is also seeking an international arrest warrant for the African regional manager. According to the report, Nigeria is working with Interpol to arrest the British-Kenyan Binance official.
An unnamed spokesperson for Anjarwalla said the Binance official was unlawfully detained and therefore his departure from the country was justified.
“Nadeem left unlawful custody on Saturday 23rd. He has not been tried in Nigerian courts and has not been advised of any charges against him.”
Nigeria’s Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) filed a lawsuit against Binance in Abuja on Monday, accusing the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange of four counts of tax evasion.
FIRS has accused Binance of several tax crimes, including failing to pay value added tax (VAT), failing to pay corporate taxes, failing to file tax returns and helping customers evade taxes through its platform. Binance has not yet released an official statement on the taxation.
Earlier this month, Binance also stopped supporting the Nigerian Naira.
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Featured image: Shutterstock/jovan vitanovski