A Kenyan national has been placed in custody by Nigerian authorities for allegedly allowing Ksh3.6 trillion (26 billion US dollars) of suspicious funds to be moved through a cryptocurrency platform, in which he was a regional executive last year.
The Wall Street Journal reported that the Kenyan is one of two regional executives employed by the cryptocurrency firm which allegedly allowed the money to flow through to the black market.
In the past year, the majority of Nigerians shifted to cryptocurrency following the weakening of the Nigerian currency against the US dollar.
As investigations were being mounted, the Nigerian government brought in the two employees on February 25, 2024.
Following a meeting held with government officials, the duo was informed to pack their things and move to a 'guesthouse' run by the country's security agency.
The Kenyan national is a regional manager who holds dual citizenship in the United Kingdom and Kenya while his partner is a former special agent who worked with the United States Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigations (IRS-CI).
One of the company representatives informed the international press that they were working round the clock to bring the employees back to their families.
"While it is inappropriate for us to comment on the substance of the claims at this time, we can say that we are working collaboratively with Nigerian authorities to bring (names withheld) back home safely to their families," the representative stated.
"They are professionals with the highest integrity, and we will provide them with all the support we can. We trust there will be a swift resolution to this matter."
A report carried out by Chainalysis, a blockchain industry data provider, showed that Nigeria has the second-highest adoption of crypto-currency globally.
Nigeria recorded Ksh8.3 trillion worth of crypto transactions in the 12 months ending June 2023.
In Sub-Saharan Africa, South Africa was ranked second with Ksh3.1 trillion while Kenya rounded up the top three list, recording Ksh1.1 trillion worth of transactions in the past year.
