Kenyan authorities have denied reports that Nadeem Anjarwalla has been arrested and will be extradited within the week to face charges.
TECH CABAL
Kenyan officials have denied reports that Nadeem Anjarwalla, the Binance executive facing tax evasion charges in Nigeria, was arrested in Kenya on April 22. Several Nigerian publications claimed Anjarwalla, who escaped from an Abuja hotel where he was being held on March 25, would be extradited within the week.
Nigerian authorities asked the Kenyan government to arrest and extradite Anjarwalla three weeks ago, people familiar with the matter said. So far, Nairobi has only confirmed his presence in the country, slowing down the West African nation’s case against crypto giant Binance.
According to Kenyan law, an extradition request sent to the Attorney General can only be executed through the Directorate of Public Prosecution (DPP) after receiving an arrest warrant from a magistrate court.
Top Kenyan officials, including Resila Onyango, the spokesperson for the National Police Service (NPS) told TechCabal on Tuesday they were unaware of the arrest. Two other officials who asked not to be named called reports that first appeared in Nigeria’s The Punch rumours.
Crypto publication Coindesk also reported on Monday that Anjarwalla’s wife denied news of the extradition.
A high-ranking detective at Kenya’s Directorate of Criminal Investigation (DCI), with direct knowledge of Nigeria’s extradition request through Interpol, also claimed no arrest had been made as alleged.
“They are piling pressure, but he has not been arrested as reported. The process is lengthy and cannot be done without involving other agencies. Interpol cannot arrest a Kenyan without following the law,” the investigator told TechCabal.
