Nigeria-based fintech Flutterwave has reportedly been cleared of money laundering allegations which were levelled against it by the Assets Recovery Agency (ARA) in Kenya. The clearing comes at approximately seven months following the initial claim in July 2022, which included the freezing of approximately USD 56.

7 million in the company’s account, with the withdrawal of the charges against the fintech having been verified by Robert Gitau, a lawyer representing Flutterwave, as stated in the announcement. Flutterwave’s fraud allegations As detailed by Benjamindada. com, throughout 2022, Flutterwave was part of several scandals, including ARA’s allegation, with the regulator having stated at the time that following investigations, it was established that the fintech’s bank accounts operations had suspicious activities where funds could be received from specific foreign entities, which prompted for suspicion to raise.

As advised by the regulator, the funds were afterwards transferred to related accounts instead of settlements to merchants. Furthermore, ARA stated that Flutterwave was operating a payment service platform without being authorised, and the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) confirmed this allegation in July 2022, when its Governor stated that the company is not licenced to operate either as a remittance provider, or a payment service provider in Kenya. Within that timeframe, the CBK instructed CEOs of financial institutions in the region to ‘cease and desist from dealing with Flutterwave’.

The announcement details that Flutterwave officials have been in constant engagement with the CBK looking to ensure that they offer all the requirements and receive their licence, with the company having reportedly submitted applications for a payment service provider licence in 2019. Amidst these fraud allegations, Flutterwave stated that ARA’s claims regarding financial improprieties were false and at the time, media reports speculated that the allegations against Flutterwave together with other Nigeria-based fintechs were ‘politically motivated’, as they were happening near the election time in Kenya. Flutterwave’s plans for the future Having been valued at USD 3 billion in its last funding round, Flutterwave had plans for an IPO which were stalled following regulatory issues and other scandals related to insider trading and harassment allegations.

Since then, the company had organisational changes for its finances, technologies, and people’s operations, which analysts believed important in preventing further escalation of past scandals, reported Benjamindada. Furthermore, TechCabal stated that although the company has the belief that public market investors will value its growth, position, and customer base at a ‘premium’ to their private funding valuations, it is set to keep on funding operations through existing cash or private capital. Additionally, the company was reported in January 2023 to have plans for the acquisition of UK-based fintech Railsr.

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