Kenya: Nigerian company Flutterwave to get back frozen Sh6.6 billion

African giant online payment service provider Flutterwave is on the verge of getting back its “dirty” Sh6.6 billion, as President William Ruto’s administration continues to drop money laundering and card fraud cases against Nigerian fin-tech companies.

The Asset Recovery Agency (ARA) says it plans to drop the suit against Flutterwave, which will become the sixth company to have its case terminated by the organisation since Dr Ruto became president late last year.

The amount returned to Nigerian fin-techs will rise to Sh12 billion, from the current figure of Sh5.8 billion.

Since September 2022, ARA has terminated forfeiture suits against five other Nigerian financial companies and returned their frozen money.

The companies were suspected of being part of a global ring of fraudsters using local banks as conduits of illicit money.

Some Sh12 billion had been frozen by courts in the financial impropriety suits filed by ARA from 2020 to 2023.

Others are RemX Capital Ltd (Sh787 million), Avalon Offshore Logistics Ltd (Sh43.5 million) and OIT Africa Limited (Sh4.9 billion).

ARA had said that the companies’ bank accounts received credits from suspicious foreign sources and that they conducted hurried withdrawals and transfers before investigators obtained preservation orders.

The money belonging to Flutterwave was frozen by the High court in July 2022 following an application by ARA.

The agency wanted the money in several local banks forfeited to the government.

But in a new twist, ARA late last week said it had filed a notice to drop the suit and have the asset freezing orders lifted.

Resulting from the update, Justice Esther Maina declined an application by an investor in the company to join the suit to represent 428,000 others who claimed to have been affected by the preservation orders and forfeiture proceedings.

The judge disallowed the joinder request by the investors on grounds that the ARA has filed a notice seeking to drop the suit.

“I have considered the joinder application by the proposed interested party very carefully. It has no merit. This is given by the fact that the applicant has indicated it wishes to withdraw the suit against the respondents,” the judge said.

The case will be mentioned when ARA confirms the withdrawal decision.

The High court had issued orders restricting access to the money held in 62 bank accounts belonging to Flutterwave and other firms over claims of card fraud and money laundering.

ARA said the foreign companies were part of a ring of fraudsters using Kenyan banks as conduits of money whose sources could not be established.

The agency added that the bank accounts received billions of shillings.

“Flutterwave’s bank accounts received millions of dollars 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 state agency told the court.