The Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ola Olukoyede, has stated that the agency has uncovered a scheme more detrimental than the crypto trading platform Binance and its system.
He mentioned that the agency has frozen approximately 300 accounts to protect the foreign exchange market.
The scheme, known as the “P to P” peer-to-peer financial trading scheme, has been operating outside the official banking and financial channels, and there was an impending disaster that could have further depreciated the Naira’s value, which has been on the rise.
“People in this country are engaging in activities worse than Binance,” he remarked, noting that over $15 billion has been transacted through one of the platforms in the past year, circumventing financial regulations.
In related news, police authorities in Kenya have reportedly apprehended Nadeem Anjarwalla, a Binance cryptocurrency platform executive, who had previously fled from Nigeria.
Anjarwalla had managed to flee Nigerian custody amid the Federal Government’s efforts to clamp down on the cryptocurrency platform to bolster the naira.
While the Nigerian authorities later traced Anjarwalla to the East African nation, multiple reports say the Binance executive is now in the custody of the Kenyan police.
Reports indicate that Kenyan government sources have confirmed the arrest of the Binance chief by the country’s police.
Following his escape from Nigeria, discussions have been underway between the EFCC, International Criminal Police, Nigerian Police Force, and Kenyan Police Service regarding Anjarwalla’s extradition.
In March, the EFCC announced its intention to extradite the Binance chief as outlined in the agency’s monthly bulletin.
“The commission’s assumption of the Binance chiefs’ prosecution sends a strong signal of the EFCC’s commitment to address irregularities and disruptions in the nation’s forex market,” stated the head of the anti-graft agency.
The Commission has levied five charges against Binance Holdings Limited, Tigran Gambaryan, and Nadeem Anjarwalla, the company’s chief executives, for tax evasion, currency speculation, and money laundering amounting to $35,400,000.
While Gambaryan is currently detained by the Commission, efforts to extradite Anjarwalla, who is on the run, are intensifying.
The EFCC, in collaboration with the International Criminal Police Organisation, the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the governments of the United Kingdom, Northern Ireland, and Kenya, is working to secure Anjarwalla’s extradition in preparation for his trial in absentia, along with the company and Gambaryan.
Until his escape, Anjarwalla, a holder of British and Kenyan citizenship and the Africa Regional Manager for Binance, was on trial in Nigerian courts.
The suspect fled while under a 14-day remand order from a court and was due to reappear on April 4, 2024.
Recently, the Nigerian government has intensified its crackdown on Binance, with Anjarwalla being one of the cryptocurrency executives arrested amid the conflict.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) claimed that over $26 billion was transferred through Binance unaccounted for.
“Over the past year,” stated CBN governor Yemi Cardoso, “more than $26 billion has been transferred through Binance without any trace.”
