Flutterwave's accounts frozen in Kenya

The accounts involved are in USD, GBP, EUR, and KES (Kenya shillings) with a total holding of almost USD 60 million suspected to be proceeds of money laundering by foreign nationals.

The orders, to be effective for 90 days, were issued after the Asset Recovery Agency (ARA) told the court that the accounts of the targeted companies were used as conduits for money laundering under the cover of providing merchant services. 

According to ARA, the company’s account received billions of KES and deposited the same in different bank accounts in an attempt to conceal the nature, source or movement of the funds. The Agency argued that Flutterwave was concealing the nature of its business by providing a payment service platform without authorisation from the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) as required by the payment system act.

The Star reported that the company’s equity account number revealed that at some point in May 2021, it received 185 online card payments all sharing the same bank identification number and that the transactions were done using cards issued by the same bank at the same point on the same day raising suspicion of card fraud.