Nigerian fintech company, Flutterwave, has denied any involvement in money laundering and corruption in doing business in Kenya, saying it has clear records of its transactions to show it upheld the standard practice in it dealings. Kenyan authorities on Wednesday froze the Africa’s Fintech unicorn's more than 6.2 billion shillings spread in 62 Kenyan bank accounts.
A Kenyan high court had ordered freezing of the funds said to belong to Flutterwave and four Kenyans on the account they were proceeds of card fraud and money laundering.
The freezing order affected bank accounts belonging to Flutterwave Payment Technology Limited, Boxtrip Travel and Tours Limited, Bagtrip Travels Limited, Elivalat Fintech Limited, Adguru Technology, Hupesi Solutions, Cruz Ride Auto Limited and one Simon Karanja Ngige.
The Kenyan Government through its Assets Recovery Agency (ARA) had in an application prayed the court to block the transfer or withdrawal of the moneys, pending the filing of a petition to have it forfeited to the government.
The agency, in application, said that their investigations revealed the moneys were wired in the guise of payments for goods and services.
ARA said: “That the 1st Respondent’s (Flutterwave) bank accounts received billions in a suspected scheme of money laundering and the same deposited in different bank accounts in an attempt to conceal or disguise the nature, source, location, disposition or movement of the said funds,”.
“The transactions were done using cards issued by the same bank, at the same point, on the same day, raising suspicion of card fraud.”
ARA said Boxtrip Travel and Tours, registered by one Enyioma Olufemi Madubuike, a Nigerian, received Sh467.1 million dollars from Flutterwave on April 27 and April 28 without explanation or supporting documents provided to support the transactions and, therefore, believes the accounts were used as conduits for illicit transfer of cash.
Following the court order, Flutterwave in a swift response debunked the allegation, describing it as “entirely false.”
In a statement on Thursday, the company said the court was wrong in ordering freezing of its accounts.
Statement by Flutterwave reads:
“Through our financial institution partners, we collect and pay on behalf of merchants and corporate entities. In the process, we earn our fees through a transaction charge, records of which are available and can be verified. As a business, we hold corporate funds to support our operations and provide services to all our customers.
“By facilitating payments for the biggest organizations in the world and everyday businesses, we process significantly large volumes of money and contribute to growing the economy in Kenya, and the rest of Africa.
“We are a financial technology company that maintains the highest regulatory standards in our operations.
“Our Anti-money laundering (AML) practices and operations are regularly audited by one of the big 4 firms. We remain proactive in our engagements with regulatory bodies to continue to stay compliant.
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“Our Anti-money laundering (AML) practices and operations are regularly audited by one of the big 4 firms. We remain proactive in our engagements with regulatory bodies to continue to stay compliant.
“Flutterwave has a responsibility to ensure the integrity of the ecosystem, and we pledge our commitment to continue to work with all stakeholders to uphold this.
“We are working to figure out the motive behind the publication and have the records straightened, the statement added.”