Kenyan officials are reportedly denying recent reports that Binance executive Nadeem Anjarwalla, who fled from custody in Nigeria, was arrested in Kenya.
CoinDesk has also reported that a spokesperson for Anjarwalla’s wife said his arrest in Kenya and his extradition are false.
The debunking comes as the fleeing Anjarwalla, discovered in Kenya, is reportedly arrested and set to be extradited to Nigeria within a week.
Anjarwalla was detained in Nigeria in February 2024, along with his colleague Tigran Gambaryan. However, in March, he fled the Abuja guest house where he and Gambaryan had been detained. Although authorities had confiscated his passport, reports indicated that he had left Nigeria.
He was later discovered in Kenya, and talks are underway to extradite him. However, his wife and some other Kenyan officials are said to have denied the report of his arrest.
According to the report, the Directorate of Public Prosecutions (DPP) is the only entity capable of carrying out an extradition request sent to the Attorney General after a Kenyan magistrate court issues an arrest warrant.
This means that Anjarwalla has only been found in Kenya but is yet to be arrested and extradited.
Per TechCabal, Resila Onyango, a spokesperson for the National Police Service (NPS), stated that the authorities are unaware of the arrest. According to the media, two other anonymous officials have denied the arrest reports, calling them “rumours.”
It also stated that a high-ranking detective from Kenya’s Directorate of Criminal Investigation (DCI), who is familiar with the case, claimed no arrests were made.
“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.”
Meanwhile, Gambaryan, still in Nigeria, has been remanded in a correctional facility in Kuje, Abuja, after pleading not guilty to the charges brought against him, Binance, and his escaped colleague by the Economic Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). He has also applied for bail, and the court will rule on his bail request on May 17.
