2 years ago
A Kenyan bureau charged with tracing and freezing proceeds of transgression said it precocious obtained an bid giving it the authorization to frost slope accounts belonging to Nigerian fintech Flutterwave. The bureau alleges that Flutterwave is not providing merchant services arsenic per claims, but is alternatively progressive successful wealth laundering activities.
Deliberate Attempt to Obscure Movement of Funds
Kenya’s Asset Recovery Agency (ARA) precocious received an bid from the High Court to frost slope accounts holding astir $60 cardinal which the bureau believes to beryllium laundered money, a study has said. Companies whose accounts person been frozen see the Nigerian fintech unicorn Flutterwave, which operated much than 50 slope accounts.
According to a report by the Star, ARA alleged that the fintech elephantine has received billions successful shillings which were past distributed successful assorted accounts arsenic portion of a deliberate effort to obfuscate the question of the funds.
“Investigations established that the slope accounts operations had suspicious activities wherever funds could beryllium received from circumstantial overseas entities which raised suspicion. The funds were past transferred to related accounts arsenic opposed to colony to merchants,” ARA stated.
Additionally, the bureau alleges that Flutterwave is violating Kenya’s National Payment System laws, which forbid the proviso of a outgo work level without the Central Bank of Kenya’s authorization. An ARA investigator, Isaac Nakitare, is reported to person obtained an bid to hunt and inspect Flutterwave’s slope accounts connected April 4.
No Evidence of Retail Transactions
After receiving the order, Nakitare reportedly recovered the fintech giant’s relationship with Guaranty Trust Bank had adjacent to $45 cardinal (5.3 cardinal Kenyan shillings) portion the company’s slope relationship with Equity Bank had adjacent to $12 million. According to the report, Flutterwave’s relationship astatine Ecobank held millions successful section currency astatine the clip of the inspection.
Besides Flutterwave, the companies whose accounts were frozen see Elivalat Fintech Limited, Boxtrip Travel and Tours Limited, Bagtrip Travel Limited, Adguru Technology Limited, Hupesi Solutions, and Cruz Ride.
According to ARA, astir of the wealth transfers were carried retired successful tranches of 1 cardinal shillings oregon below. This is usually done erstwhile the instigators of the transfers are trying to debar detection, the ARA said.
The bureau besides insisted that, contempt the claims that Flutterwave was providing merchant services, it recovered “no grounds of retail transactions from customers paying for goods and services.” It added that nary grounds of “settlements to the alleged merchants” was found.
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