Kenyan High Court Freezes $52.5M Of Flutterwave’s Assets

From financial impropriety and conflict of interest to operating without a license, Nigerian fintech company Flutterwave is no stranger to allegations. Most recently, the Kenyan High Court officially granted the Asset Recovery Agency (ARA) permission to freeze over $50 million in 52 accounts belonging to the fintech giant following allegations of money laundering in Kenya. 

According to local media reports, the ARA believes that the platform “concealed” the nature of its business by providing a payment service payment without approval from the Central Bank of Kenya. The assets recovery agency claims the accounts belonging to Flutterwave may have been used as conduits for money laundering. The fintech platform addressed the claims in an online statement. 

“Claims of financial improprieties involving the company in Kenya are entirely false, and we have the records to verify this,” Flutterwave added. 

“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 four firms. In addition, we remain proactive in our engagements with regulatory bodies to remain compliant.” 

An investigation published earlier this year into the fintech company by journalist David Hundeyin alleged the company provided insider trading, employee stock options fraud, company negligence, sexual harassment, and workplace bullying. The latest claims expose a pattern of ongoing issues and questionable practices of one of the fintech’s founders and current CEO, Olugbenga Agboola.