High Court has dropped charges against eight entities linked to African online payment platform Flutterwave following an application filed by the Asset Recovery Agency (ARA).

The order dated February 27, 2023 terminating the charges against the eight entities was issued by Nairobi Anti-Corruption And Economic Crimes Court’s Lady Justice Esther Maina.

ARA filed a withdrawal notice on December 13, 2022 under Sections 19 and 90 of the Proceeds of Crime and Anti-Money Laundering Act and Order 25 Rule 1 of the Civil Procedure Rules.

The order effectively drops charges ARA brought against Flutterwave Payment Technology Ltd, Boxtrip Travel and Tours Ltd, Bagtrip Travels Limited, Elivalant Fintech Limited, Adguru Technology Limited, Hupesi Solutions, Cruz Ride Auto Limited and Simons Karanja Ngige.

Owing to this directive, Flutterwave is set to recover more than $50 million in frozen cash following the decision by Kenya government to drop charges of financial impropriety.

Read More

  1. Court clears Flutterwave of wrongdoing as ARA withdraws suit against company
  2. Flutterwave suffers blow as High Court declines bid to withdraw second case
  3. Flutterwave responds to allegation of its involvement in Sh6.2 billion fraud

ARA had sued Flutterwave resulting in freezing of cash held in 62 bank accounts belonging to the Fintech and a number of entities over claims of card fraud and money laundering.

Flutterwave CEO and co-founder Olugbenga Agboola jetted into Kenya in early February as the company also made efforts to acquire a licence from the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK).

The company has maintained that the claims by ARA of financial impropriety are untrue as it welcomed the decision by the government of Kenya through ARA to withdraw the charges.

“Flutterwave welcomes the withdrawal of claims against the company by the Asset Recovery Agency (ARA) in July 2022 and looks forward to market expansion in Kenya,” said the Fintech in a statement on Thursday.

It added, “As a result, Flutterwave has been cleared of any wrongdoing. Flutterwave has fully cooperated with all stages of this review.”

Flutterwave, a fintech company based in Lagos, Nigeria and San Francisco, USA, offers its online payments services to accelerate cross-border transactions in multiple currencies.

The firm was last valued at more than $3 billion and raised more than $450 million in Venture capital funding as it readies for an initial public offering on the Nasdaq.

The move by ARA to drop the charges is also a welcome relief for other Nigerian Fintechs and entities whose accounts will now be unfrozen allowing them to access their millions.

The state Agency last year also dropped charges against Korapay Technologies Ltd, Kandon Technologies Ltd, RemX Capital Ltd, Avalon Offshore Logistics Ltd and OIT Africa Limited.

The frozen billions were held in accounts at Equity, EcoBank, KCB, Co-operative and GTB banks and the court blocked any transfer or withdrawal to await determination of the case.