The International Criminal Police Organisation (INTERPOL) has disclosed that fleeing crypto chief Nadeem Anjarwalla will be smoked out and extradited to Nigeria to face tax evasion.
Vice President of INTERPOL (Africa) Executive Committee, Garba Umar, made this known on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily programme on Tuesday.
He added that when a fugitive escapes, there are processes to follow, adding that paper works for Anjarwalla to be returned to Nigeria has commenced.
“INTERPOL will only give information, assist them and inform them about the bilateral agreements and conventions that were signed to extradite a fleeing fugitive and the process is ongoing and Nadeem is not an exception.
“Be rest assured, we have all the cooperation and we are working on it and definitely, one day, he will be brought to justice, it’s just a matter of time. We have done all the paper works,” Umar stated.
Recall that the Anjarwalla who was detained by the Federal Government over alleged tax evasion escaped from custody.
Anjarwalla, Binance’s Africa regional manager and his colleague, Tigran Gambaryan, a US citizen overseeing financial crime compliance at Binance were detained upon their arrival in Nigeria on February 26.
A Magistrate Court in Abuja had granted the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) an order to remand the duo for 14 days, and that they (Binance) provide the Nigerian government with the data/information of Nigerians trading on its platform.
The crypto trading platform although refused to comply with the order, was again ordered to be remanded for an additional 14 days to prevent them from tampering with evidence.
The Binance executives were subsequently slammed with another four-count charge, accusing them of failure to register with FIRS for tax purposes and contravening existing tax regulations within the country.
One of the counts in the lawsuit pertains to Binance’s alleged failure to collect and remit various categories of taxes to the federation as stipulated by Section 40 of the FIRS Establishment Act 2007 as amended.
Section 40 of the Act explicitly addresses the non-deduction and non-remittance of taxes, prescribing penalties and potential imprisonment for defaulting entities.
The charges further detailed specific instances where Binance purportedly violated tax laws, such as failing to issue invoices for VAT purposes, thus obstructing the determination and payment of taxes by subscribers.