Flutterwave, the African payments technology company, has hit back at claims it is connected to a $52million money laundering ring in Kenya.
According to reports, a court in Kenya has frozen more than $40million in accounts belonging to Flutterwave under the country’s anti-money laundering laws.
In a statement attributed to Kenya’s Assets Recovery Agency, Flutterwave was among seven firms suspected to have been used as conduits for card fraud in banks in the guise of providing merchant services.
But Flutterwave, in a company blog post, has firmly denied the claims and insists it maintains high regulatory standards and is audited by an unnamed reputable company.
Company statement
It said: “Claims of financial improprieties involving the company in Kenya are entirely false, and we have the records to verify this.
“Through our financial institution partners, we collect and pay on behalf of merchants and corporate entities. In the process we earn our fees through a transaction charge, records of which are available and can be verified. As a business, we hold corporate funds to support our operations and provide services to all our customers.
“By facilitating payments for the biggest organisations in the world and everyday businesses, we process significantly large volumes of money and contribute to growing the economy in Kenya, and the rest of Africa.
We are a financial technology company that maintains the highest regulatory standards in our operations. Our anti-money laundering (AML) practices and operations are regularly audited by one of the big four firms. We remain proactive in our engagements with regulatory bodies to continue to stay compliant.”
Flutterwave also said it is working to “figure out the motive behind the publication, and have the records straightened”.
At the end of last month, Flutterwave appointed former Goldman Sachs’ managing director Gurbhej Dhillon as its new chief technology officer following its recently completed Series D funding round. It raised $250million in its single-biggest funding round to date, valuing the startup at more than $3billion.
