Skip to main content

Report: Flutterwave CEO in Bid to Recover Millions Stuck in Kenya

According to reports, the CEO and co-founder of the Nigerian fintech Flutterwave, Olugbenga Agboola, recently visited Kenya where he sought to convince the country’s monetary authorities to grant the firm access to funds that have been blocked since July 2022. Agboola claimed that his firm had “instituted a number of changes over the past year to ensure all internal governance structures are best-in-class.”

Money Laundering Allegations

More than six months after a Kenyan High Court granted an order to freeze bank accounts belonging to the Nigerian fintech unicorn Flutterwave, Olugbenga Agboola, the co-founder and CEO of the startup, is seeking to convince the Central Bank of Kenya to end the embargo. In addition, Agboola reportedly used his recent trip to the East African state to push for the licensing of his firm.

As previously reported by Bitcoin.com News, more than 50 Flutterwave bank accounts holding funds equivalent to nearly $60 million were frozen at the behest of the Asset Recovery Agency (ARA). The agency accused Flutterwave of laundering money and of flouting Kenya’s national payment system laws.

However, according to a Business Daily report, the ARA has withdrawn from the court case that won it the freeze order in December 2022. The report added that the ARA’s withdrawal, as well as the recent dismissal of a case brought against Flutterwave by some 2,000 disgruntled Nigerians, raised the startup’s chances of regaining access to the blocked funds.

Meanwhile, in his comments relating to the Kenyan trip, Agboola reportedly said:

CBK invited us in December to reapply for a money remittance and payments service provider licenses. Kenya is the bedrock of mobile money. We have seen the gap and have raised capital to invest here. Without Nairobi, building a global mobile money payments system is not possible.

Concerning allegations that Flutterwave’s Kenyan operations were not sanctioned, Agboola insisted the startup has always sought to comply with the country’s laws. He revealed that the startup was bringing in qualified global experts to help strengthen Flutterwave’s processes.

Fintech Growth and Regulatory Challenges

In another report, Agboola is quoted suggesting that Flutterwave and other Africa-based fintech firms’ accelerated growth often unnerves regulators. This, in turn, leads to increased scrutiny and suspicion.

However, to assuage the concerns of skeptical regulators, Agboola reportedly said the fintech had “instituted a number of changes over the past year to ensure all internal governance structures are best-in-class.” Furthermore, Flutterwave has hired experienced individuals such as Emmanuel Efenure from Mastercard to help strengthen the fintech’s risk and governance, Agboola added.

Register your email here to get a weekly update on African news sent to your inbox:

What are your thoughts on this story? Let us know what you think in the comments section below.



from Bitcoin News https://ift.tt/dDrfhuR
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Deep Web Roundup: Dream Adds Monero and Bitcoin Tumbler “Chip Mixer” Launches

The darknet has been quiet of late, which is the way it’s meant to be. No news means no mega busts, honeypots, or mass market shutdowns. Even when it’s out of the spotlight though, the deep web is quietly making news, whether trialling the latest privacy coins or the newest coin mixers that promise to restore a little of the privacy that’s being stripped away from bitcoin users on a daily basis. Also read: U.S. Agency ICE Conducts Investigations That Exploit Blockchain Activity The Battle for Privacy Heats Up Privacy is all relative, but of late there’s been relatively little privacy to be enjoyed by bitcoin users. Blockchain monitoring software is becoming more sophisticated and more common, with U.S. law enforcement agencies using it to profile and hunt down deep web users. Chip Mixer is a relatively new bitcoin tumbler that’s designed to restore some of that privacy. Available on both the clearnet and darknet, the service uses a variety of techniques to obfuscate blockchain m...
10 comments
Read more

Ombudsman Receives Complaints About Crypto Investments in Spain

The Spanish ombudsman has been receiving complaints about cryptocurrency and how some Spanish citizens investing in these vehicles have lost everything. In his annual report, Angel Gabilondo recognized the rise of cryptocurrencies as a new problem due to the little or no regulation crypto sees in the country. In the same way, the EU has also warned about these assets recently. Spanish Ombudsman Gives His Take on Crypto Angel Gabilondo, the Spanish ombudsman, has given his take regarding cryptocurrencies and the effects they have on citizens investing in some of these projects. Gabilondo said in his yearly report that cryptocurrencies have become “a new problem” during the year examined, with many people having lost all of their funds invested. The report states : Cryptocurrency exchange companies or platforms are not regulated in the legal system, are not subject to any public supervision system, nor do they benefit from deposit guarantee systems. The affected users that sought...
Post a Comment
Read more

2021 Bitcoin Price Predictions: Analysts Forecast BTC Values Will Range Between Zero to $600K

As bitcoin has touched new price highs on Thursday nearing the $50k handle, people have been curious as to where the price will go in the future. Meanwhile, despite the gains so far, a number of luminaries, analysts, executives, and proponents from the crypto space believe the leading crypto asset will reach between $60k to six-digits this year. Mike Novogratz Predicts $100K Bitcoin: ‘Other CFOs and CEOs Are Saying, What Should We Be Doing?’ Satoshi Nakamoto’s invention has gained mass appeal in recent times as the leading digital asset bitcoin ( BTC ) has reached its highest value ever in 2021. On Thursday morning (EST), BTC spiked to an all-time high (ATH) at $48,697 per unit. Earlier in the morning at around 2 a.m., bitcoin was exchanging hands for $44,485 and saw an 8.98% increase since then. At the time of publication, at 6:30 p.m. (EST) on February 11, 2021, bitcoin (BTC) is swapping for $47,821 per coin. With BTC so close to the $50k mark, people have been forecasting ...
Post a Comment
Read more