The United States prevented Kenyan authorities from detaining the Worldcoin project team

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Kenya's Ministry of Internal Affairs reports that US authorities prevented top managers of the controversial Worldcoin crypto project from leaving the country.

At the hearings of the special commission of the National AssemblyKenyan Secretary of the Ministry of Internal Affairs Kithure Kindiki said that top managers of the Worldcoin crypto project tried to leave the country, but were detained by law enforcement agencies and placed in custody. Among the Worldcoin team members arrested were co-founder and CEO Alex Blania and general counsel Thomas Scott.

“They tried to leave the country, but they werestopped and taken into custody. However, the US government intervened, saying the detainees should be allowed to leave immediately because they had not yet been found guilty of a crime. US law enforcement officers have pledged to extradite both suspects upon request,” Kindiki said.

The official stated that, in the opinion of the MinistryInternal Affairs, the technology used by Worldcoin to collect biometrics from Kenyan citizens may be dual-use and potentially have biological consequences, and also pose a threat to the security of the country. The official informed the members of the special commission that the specialized computer equipment and documentation seized from entrepreneurs were transferred for analysis to the Communications Department and the forensic laboratory.

Earlier, Worldcoin co-founder and Tools for Humanity CEO Alex Blania appeared
before Kenyan legislators to respond to their allegations that the project was operating illegally in the country.