Nigerian fintech company, Flutterwave, is embroiled in a serious legal quagmire in Kenya, as authorities in the East African country have seized $56.7 million (6.7 billion Kenyan shillings) belonging to the company on allegations of conducting suspicious transactions and failing to comply with financial regulations.
According to the Kenyan Star, state prosecutors alleged, “Investigations established that the bank accounts operations had suspicious activities where funds could be received from specific foreign entities which raised suspicion. The funds were then transferred to related accounts as opposed to settlement to merchants.”
“If indeed the Flutterwave was providing merchant services, there was no evidence of retail transactions from customers paying for goods and services. Further, there is no evidence of settlements to the alleged merchants,” Kenyan prosecutors added.
Other affected companies are Boxtrip Travel and Tours Limited, Bagtrip Travel Limited, Elivalat Fintech Limited, Adguru Technology Limited, Hupesi Solutions, and Cruz Ride Auto Limited. The newspaper reported that one Simon Ngige was also on the list of those accused.
Flutterwaves’s 29 bank accounts with Guaranty Trust Bank, 17 with Equity Bank and six with Ecobank were all frozen.