Nadeem Anjawala
Appearances
Planet Money
The 'Crypto Wizard' vs. Nigeria
The only evidence that they had in my charging documents was in my business card that said I was head of the Global Intelligence Investigations. In my entire charging records against me, my business card is the only evidence in there.
Planet Money
The 'Crypto Wizard' vs. Nigeria
I don't think my wife would let me go back to Nigeria if I wanted to. She's right. Or like outside the house.
Planet Money
The 'Crypto Wizard' vs. Nigeria
I don't want to handle business. I have nothing to do with any products. My whole core duties, which is all I do, is assist law enforcement.
Planet Money
The 'Crypto Wizard' vs. Nigeria
We agreed to go out there, meet with them, be like, OK, you know what, if you need anything, just to kind of even, you know, go above and beyond and help them out.
Planet Money
The 'Crypto Wizard' vs. Nigeria
When he showed up... They're like, oh, just come in, just sit down. They'll come in in a little bit. We waited for a couple of hours.
Planet Money
The 'Crypto Wizard' vs. Nigeria
one of the guys who was actually responsible for this, he comes in, kind of slaps a folder on the table, starts saying, you know, you've destroyed the Nigerian economy.
Planet Money
The 'Crypto Wizard' vs. Nigeria
We want user records for every single Nigerian user. Until that's done, you can't leave.
Planet Money
The 'Crypto Wizard' vs. Nigeria
There was a cook that was assigned to the house. Nadim was, like, ridiculous the whole time. It was crazy. He would, like, make crazy requests and kept asking for, like, smoothies in the morning. The cook would make him, like, two smoothies, like an avocado smoothie and whatever.
Planet Money
The 'Crypto Wizard' vs. Nigeria
It was dark. The lights were out. So I went up and knocked on his door. He didn't answer.
Planet Money
The 'Crypto Wizard' vs. Nigeria
I was like, Nadeem, Nadeem, are you there? No response. I just see, you know, just a mountain of, like, blankets and, like, pillows. And I'm like, there's a foot sticking out from underneath the blanket. I pull it off. He had stuffed a water bottle inside a sock, put it there, so.
Planet Money
The 'Crypto Wizard' vs. Nigeria
When I'm like, I'm alone. And so I'm trying to figure out how do I handle this? What should I do?
Planet Money
The 'Crypto Wizard' vs. Nigeria
They treated me like Hannibal Lecter when they're transporting me. It was ridiculous. Like two trucks full of people with rifles, one in the front, one in the back. It was insane.
Planet Money
The 'Crypto Wizard' vs. Nigeria
It was just a cell with no air conditioning, nothing, cockroaches. There was a mattress and a ton of cockroaches just everywhere, just like infestation.
Planet Money
The 'Crypto Wizard' vs. Nigeria
One of the guard comes in, didn't ask, he just opens the door, sits down on the bed and says like, I'll sell you a phone for $25,000. I'm like, what? He's like, yeah, you're a Binance executive. You're a billionaire. You can afford this. I'm like, I'm sorry, you got the wrong guy. He's like, okay, fine, $5,000. I'm like, no, I'm like, I'm not a billionaire.
Planet Money
The 'Crypto Wizard' vs. Nigeria
I just can't believe that I'm still here. I just spent my 40th birthday in a Nigerian prison, for God's sake.
Planet Money
The 'Crypto Wizard' vs. Nigeria
It feels kind of like food poisoning. So the next thing I know, I'm throwing up.