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

At a hearing of a special commission of the National Assembly of Kenya, the 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 were stopped 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 said that the Ministry of Home Affairs believes that the technologies used by Worldcoin to collect biometrics from Kenyan citizens may be dual-use and have potential biological consequences, and also pose a threat to the country’s security. 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 answer their accusations of the project’s illegal activities in the country.