Nigeria is reportedly planning to further extend the detention of Binance executives.
As reported by Reuters, Nigerian authorities have requested an Abuja court to prolong the detention of key Binance executives who are allegedly now part of the nation’s wide-ranging cryptocurrency crackdown.
This, after an initial warrant that was used to detain them lapsed this past week, according to sources familiar with the matter (and cited by Reuters).
Tigran Gambaryan, an American citizen and Binance’s head of financial crime compliance, as well as Nadeem Anjarwalla, a British-Kenyan who is working as Binance’s regional manager for Africa, had made a trip down to Nigeria after the nation’s decision to ban a number of crypto trading sites. However, these two executives were actually detained on arrival in the country on February 26, 2024.
At the time of writing, the two Binance execs have not yet been charged with any crime.
The large crackdown has come following a period after several crypto sites emerged as popular platforms for trading the Nigerian currency, which has experienced significant dollar shortages.
Court documents reviewed by Reuters indicate that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), which is Nigeria’s anti-graft agency, had initially issued an order in order to detain the two for 14 days for the purpose of carrying out investigations.
The last order reportedly expired on Tuesday this week, and the two men have not yet been released because the EFCC requested a chief magistrate’s court to extend their detention while the probe is ongoing. This, according to a source allegedly involved in the case but not permitted to share details with the media.
The two named executives’ legal representatives said there are no reasonable grounds/justifications for keeping them in custody.
Another unnamed source that’s reportedly close to the men’s families stated that a hearing had been set for March 20, 2024 when the court would either dismiss or approve the requested extension request on the same day or at a later date.
The representatives for the EFCC and the Office of the National Security Adviser, which is taking part in the investigation, have not provided any detailed statements on the issue.
Binance, which remains the largest cryptocurrency exchange even after agreeing to a massive settlement of over $4 billion with US regulators, stated via social media that it had been working cooperatively with Nigerian law enforcement in order to bring back its executives.
Binance’s management wrote in a blog post:
“Even though Nigeria is not yet one of Binance’s top markets, we believe it holds extraordinary potential and we hope to continue to invest there. In recent years, Africa’s most populous country and largest economy, has seen tremendous growth in crypto adoption and usage.”
Binance’s management added that they “are proud that Binance has become one of the most trusted platforms among crypto users in the country and they believe they are rewarded with that trust because of their efforts to give them the best trading experience while keeping their funds safe.”
Binance further claims that it has “a policy of cooperation and compliance with all lawful information requests and legal inquiries from government, local regulatory, and law enforcement authorities pertaining to investigations, prosecutions, and forfeiture actions.”
Between June 2020 and February 2024, Binance’s financial crime compliance (FCC) teams claim that they “responded to 626 information requests coming from Nigerian law enforcement agencies or related to investigations pertinent to Nigeria, with an average of 37.4 hours between submission and resolution.”
The information they provided reportedly “helped a vast range of agencies, such as the Nigeria Police Force, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), and INTERPOL Nigeria, to tackle crimes ranging from scams and fraud to money laundering, blackmail, kidnapping, and extortion.”
It’s worth noting that Nigeria remains high on the perceived corruption index like most developing or underdeveloped nations. The country is home to many crypto enthusiasts, but a large number of scams and fraudulent activities are reported in Nigeria and other African countries. For instance, peer to peer Bitcoin marketplace Paxful often experiences a large number of fraudulent activities with accounts linked to Nigeria and other emerging economies.
In addition to these issues, law enforcement and government agencies tend to work quite slowly and inefficiently in Nigeria and other developing nations as well. For these reasons, it can be challenging to get an accurate picture of how events like these are really unfolding.
