Authorities in Nigeria report that an official of the cryptocurrency company Binance has fled from detention.
In February, authorities detained British and Kenyan dual national Nadeem Anjarwalla and his US coworker Tigran Gambaryan.
Their arrest occurred when the Nigerian government looked into claims that Binance had committed misconduct.
According to Nigeria, Mr. Anjarwalla departed the nation using a "smuggled passport," while a family member claims he did so "by lawful means."
The Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) released a statement stating that the government is now "operating" with Interpol for a global arrest warrant regarding the accused."
Regarding the charges it has been facing, Binance has remained silent.
"Nigeria no longer controls Nadeem," according to our information. "Our first priority continues to be ensuring the safety of our workers, and we are collaborating with Nigerian authorities to find a speedy solution to this problem," a representative for Binance said.
On February 26, Mr. Anjarwalla, the company's regional manager for Africa, and Mr. Gambaryan, who oversees accounting fraud compliance, were taken into custody after discussions they had been asked to participate in in Abuja, the capital of Nigeria.
They said that the government asked them to identify Nigerian traders on their network.
Despite the court accepting the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission's request to keep the two executives for 14 days, an individual close to the families told the BBC that the court was keeping them "unlawfully" and did not allow their ongoing custody.
The court scheduled their return early in the following month.
The ONSA reports, "We have apprehended the individuals who were tracking the individual in question, and an exhaustive inquiry is ongoing to figure out what happened that led to the suspect's breakout from lawful detention."
According to reports in Nigerian media, last Friday Mr. Anjarwalla requested permission from the guards at the guest home where he was being kept to visit the mosque, but he never came back.
The police appeared to have seized his British passport, but it was unclear where his Kenyan passport had disappeared.
Mr. Gambaryan is still being held.
In the meantime, Mr. Anjarwalla is one of the respondents to the official tax evasion allegations that the Nigerian government filed against Binance at the Abuja High Court.
The Federal Inland Revenue Service is accusing the cryptocurrency network of failing to submit tax returns, failing to pay corporate income tax, failing to pay value-added tax, and aiding users in tax evasion through its platform.
Regarding these claims, Binance has not released a comment.
Last month, the Nigerian government clamped down on cryptocurrency companies in general due to allegations of their use for terrorist funding and money laundering.
The national bank of the country said that transactions totaling more than $26 billion (£20.6 billion) with anonymous origins had gone via Binance.
It imposed a $10 billion punishment on the company and charged the platforms with manipulating exchange rates and engaging in currency speculation that caused the local currency, the naira, to plummet.
One of the most well-known cryptocurrency exchanges in Nigeria is reportedly Binance.
The biggest economy in Africa is struggling with an economic crisis made worse by the depreciation of the naira, rising living expenses, and rising food prices.
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