A Kenyan court froze Flutterwave Payment Technology Limited‘s accounts after allegations of money laundering were made against it. In a statement, Flutterwave said allegations of financial improprieties involving the company in Kenya were entirely false.
“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.”
A Kenyan High Court on Wednesday froze 56 bank accounts belonging to Flutterwave and other businesses connected with Nigerian nationals over money laundering allegations.
The accounts involved are in dollars, pound sterling, euros, and Kenya shillings with a total holding of Sh7 billion suspected to be money laundering proceeds 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.
Read Also : Kenya Hits Flutterwave with Money Laundering, Seizes $56.7M Amidst Trial
ARA accused the company of receiving billions of shillings and depositing the same in different bank accounts in an attempt to conceal the nature, source, or movement of the funds.
Flutterwave insists that the claim Against It is false.
“We are working to ascertain the motive behind the false claims, and have the records straightened,” Flutterwave said. Flutterwave noted that it only “collects and pays on behalf of merchants and corporate entities.”
The fintech company explained that “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 organizations 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.”
Flutterwave said it has a “responsibility to ensure the integrity of the ecosystem and we pledge our commitment to continue working with all stakeholders to uphold this.”
Following the Closing of New funding, Flutterwave is Now Valued at $3 billion
On Tuesday, a representative of Flutterwave said the company had raised USD $250 million in Series D funding, bringing its value to over $3 billion.
Read Also : Flutterwave Expose: The Untold Story of an African Tech Giant
The latest backers of the Nigerian unicorn include B Capital Group, with participation from Alta Park Capital, Whale Rock Capital, and Lux Capital, among others. Several existing investors who also participated in previous rounds also followed this round, including, Glynn Capital, Avenir Growth, Tiger Global, Green Visor Capital and Salesforce Ventures.
More on Flutterwave Funding
Flutterwave raised $170 million in Series C a little under a year ago to push its valuation as of then to over $1 billion. Launched in 2016 as a Nigerian and U.S.-based payments company with offices in Lagos and San Francisco, Flutterwave helps businesses build customizable payments applications through its APIs.
The new funds will drive Flutterwave’s ambitious expansion plan to accelerate customer acquisition in existing markets and growth and develop complementary products while encouraging new innovations in its products and services development.
“Our story is that of resilience and hard work. Our growth so far is due to the support of our customers, our partners, the banks, the public, the regulators, and importantly our people,” Flutterwave founder and CEO Olugbenga Agboola said.
The Series D fundraise comes on the back of an impressive run of five years in which Flutterwave has processed over 200M transactions worth over USD $16B to date across 34 countries in Africa. It also follows a year of rapid growth for the brand which now serves over 900,000 businesses across the globe.
He commended the Central Bank of all countries of operations, particularly “Nigeria, under the leadership of Dr Godwin Emefiele, laid the vision of a transformational Payment System in Nigeria, provided the framework for innovation in this space, and has continued to create regulations that have enabled us to grow and thrive.”
Agboola said the latest funding demonstrates the conviction of some of the world’s leading investors in both our business model, team and the Africa technology market. It gives Flutterwave the much-needed support to deliver on our plans to provide the best experience for our merchants and customers around the world.”
Matt Levinson, Partner at B Capital said Flutterwave has a unique opportunity to accomplish this as the dominant payments infrastructure provider across Africa.
“In addition to their emergence as the leading enterprise payments processor for the continent, Flutterwave is innovating at breakneck speed with novel fintech solutions for large corporates, SMEs, and consumers.
I’ve had the pleasure of backing this world-class team since 2017 and couldn’t be more thrilled that B Capital is leading their Series D.
“Flutterwave may ultimately build one of the most consequential fintech businesses in the world, enabling hundreds of thousands of merchants to transact online and connect Africa to the global economy.”