Nigerian authorities have asked a local court to extend the detention period of two executives of Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, caught up in the country's ongoing crackdown on cryptocurrencies.
The request comes after the original arrest warrant used to detain the two executives expired this week, according to sources familiar with the matter.
Tigran Gambaryan, a US citizen and Binance's Head of Financial Crime Compliance, and Nadeem Anjarwalla, a British-Kenyan and Binance's Africa Regional Manager, were detained when they arrived in Nigeria on February 26. The two men flew to this country after Nigeria's decision to ban several cryptocurrency trading sites. Neither executive was charged with any crime.
The crackdown comes after several cryptocurrency websites became popular platforms for trading the Nigerian currency, which is struggling with chronic dollar shortages.
Court documents reveal that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Nigeria's anti-corruption agency, was initially ordered to detain the two executives for 14 days to expedite investigations. However, this order expired on Tuesday and the two executives remain in custody as the EFCC asked a chief magistrate court in Abuja to extend their detention while investigations are ongoing.
Binance recently said in a statement that it was working with Nigerian authorities to secure the extradition of its executives. Financial Times had reported that EFCC requested Binance to share data on its top 100 users in Nigeria, and Binance did not comment on the matter.
Nadeem's wife, Elahe Anjarwalla, told Reuters that the two executives were being held in a protected house in the capital Abuja. She said that she could talk to her husband on the phone at least once a day, but that her husband could only talk to her when accompanied by a guard.
*This is not investment advice.