• Latest
  • Trending
Kenya Asset Recovery Agency (ARA) Drops Money Laundering Charges Against Nigerian Companies

Kenya Asset Recovery Agency (ARA) Drops Money Laundering Charges Against Nigerian Companies

September 21, 2022
Innoson, Nigerian automaker, unveils plan to establish CNG assembly plant

Innoson, Nigerian automaker, unveils plan to establish CNG assembly plant

October 16, 2025
Spotify testing ‘SongDNA’ to show everyone behind your songs

Spotify testing ‘SongDNA’ to show everyone behind your songs

October 16, 2025
$395mn submarine cable project, Medusa, begins deployment to link Europe to Africa

$395mn submarine cable project, Medusa, begins deployment to link Europe to Africa

October 16, 2025
Chari raises $12M, gets Morocco’s first VC-backed payment license

Chari raises $12M, gets Morocco’s first VC-backed payment license

October 16, 2025
NCBA unveils ConnectPlus to improve businesses in Kenya

NCBA unveils ConnectPlus to improve businesses in Kenya

October 16, 2025
Slack supercharges Slackbot with smarter AI capabilities

Slack supercharges Slackbot with smarter AI capabilities

October 16, 2025
Gemini AI now handles your Google Calendar meeting scheduling

Gemini AI now handles your Google Calendar meeting scheduling

October 16, 2025
Sun King, REA partner to boost access to clean energy

Sun King, REA partner to boost access to clean energy

October 16, 2025
ChatGPT to allow erotica for adult users, Sam Altman says

ChatGPT to allow erotica for adult users, Sam Altman says

October 16, 2025
UNILAG partners with OpenAI to bring first African academy to Lagos

UNILAG partners with OpenAI to bring first African academy to Lagos

October 16, 2025
How Nigerian innovators are transforming lecture notes for the digital age

How Nigerian innovators are transforming lecture notes for the digital age

October 16, 2025
PayTabs, Valu launch contactless payment system for Egyptian merchants

PayTabs, Valu launch contactless payment system for Egyptian merchants

October 15, 2025
Techpression
Advertisement
  • Tech News
    • Africa Tech
    • Global Tech
    • Tech with Pelumy
    • Tech Careers
    • Tech TV
    • General News
    • How To
    • Reviews
  • Cryptocurrency
  • Fintech
  • Startups
  • Ai
Friday, October 17, 2025
No Result
View All Result
  • Tech News
    • Africa Tech
    • Global Tech
    • Tech with Pelumy
    • Tech Careers
    • Tech TV
    • General News
    • How To
    • Reviews
  • Cryptocurrency
  • Fintech
  • Startups
  • Ai
No Result
View All Result
Techpression
No Result
View All Result
Home Tech News Africa Tech News

Kenya Asset Recovery Agency (ARA) Drops Money Laundering Charges Against Nigerian Companies

Felicia Akindurodoye by Felicia Akindurodoye
September 21, 2022
in Africa Tech News, Business, Cybercrime, Editors Pick, Fintech, Startups
144 6
0
Kenya Asset Recovery Agency (ARA) Drops Money Laundering Charges Against Nigerian Companies
465
SHARES
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterWhatsAppTelegram

The Kenyan Asset Recovery Agency (ARA) has dropped money laundering charges against three Nigerian companies because the source of the funds was adequately explained.
The agency asked the High Court in April 2022 to halt any transfers or withdrawals of the three companies’ Sh5.6 billion ($48.6 million).

At the time, it was said that the money came from money laundering and that the firm’s leaders were helped by a prominent politician. Kenyan media said that the directors of the affected companies didn’t want to meet with the ARA while investigations were still going on.

Since then, other Nigerian businesses—Flutterwave being the most well-known—have been caught up in a web of money laundering accusations in East Africa. Kando Technologies, Kiwipay, and Korapay were a few of the startups that were involved in the dispute.
A few people believed that these were politically motivated when the news first surfaced because Kenya was getting ready for its presidential elections. However, it also highlights how difficult it is to set up cross-border payments in Africa.

Read also: Operators claim that South Africa’s 3G sunset is too soon

RelatedPosts

Chari raises $12M, gets Morocco’s first VC-backed payment license

Chari raises $12M, gets Morocco’s first VC-backed payment license

October 16, 2025
GITEX Global connects thousands of investors, startups to $1.1 trillion investment pools

GITEX Global connects thousands of investors, startups to $1.1 trillion investment pools

October 15, 2025

Ghanaian Startup Affinity Africa surpasses 100,000 customer milestone

October 14, 2025

Africa’s early startups get $1.4M from Pharos of Alexandria Ventures

October 13, 2025
Load More

The ARA had asserted that every company was a part of a money-laundering conspiracy, but a close source revealed that neither Flutterwave nor Korapay had conducted any business in Kenya.
With this new development, it’s possible that the accusations against Flutterwave, Korapay, Kiwipay, and all the other concerned businesses will be withdrawn.

Visiting Kenya’s Money Laundering Feud With Nigerian Fintechs

The freezing of 56 accounts, many of which belonged to Nigerian fintech giant Flutterwave, was ordered by a Kenyan high court, according to an announcement made by the Kenyan website Star.co on July 6, 2022. The Asset Recovery Agency of Kenya (ARA) told the court that the accounts were probably being used to launder money, so the court decided to freeze these accounts, which had a total of Ksh7 billion ($59 million).

Huge emotions accompanied this revelation, and although Flutterwave’s situation didn’t seem promising given its recent scandals, things weren’t looking bright for other Nigerian fintech firms either.

A Kenyan high court once more ruled on July 14, 2021, to freeze the accounts of two further Nigerian fintech businesses, Korapay and Kandon Technologies, with the sum of ksh 45 million ($380,000).

The ARA said that both businesses moved money in the wrong way, which caused up to $6 billion to be stolen. It was also said that there was a link between both businesses, Flutterwave and the companies it works with and accused of money laundering.
In their public statements, both Flutterwave and Korapay have said that these claims are not true. While Flutterwave said that the accusations were untrue, it made no further mention of the situation’s facts.

On the other hand, Korapay clarified that the relevant frozen money is absolutely a requirement for obtaining a payments processing license in Kenya.
However, the problems are serious, and Kenya has previously blacklisted several Nigerian businesses. The Kenyan government has so far placed a billion dollars worth of funds that belonged to Nigerian businesses on ice.

Globally, there are extremely strong laws against money laundering, and they need to be revised frequently. The UN thinks that people who try to hide where illegally obtained money came from creating between 2% and 5% of the global GDP, or between $800 billion and $2 trillion, using foreign banks or legal businesses as fronts.

Money laundering schemes can involve a business or its founder directly, or customers of financial institutions can find ways to get around the law to speed up their criminal prosecution.

Because of the risk of financial loss, organized crime, and terrorism, the financial industry has some of the strictest rules in the world. Despite the rigorous laws that financial services organizations must follow, money laundering nevertheless drains the global economy of an average of $1.6 trillion per year.

Flutterwave Denies Money Laundering Allegations

 

Observations

According to research, Fintechs have higher risks than traditional financial companies. Traditional finance companies have long struggled to keep up with the dynamism of fraudsters who keep coming up with new ways to launder money.

The emergence of fintechs has changed how the world views the financial services industry. Due to their rapid growth and a large number of transactions, fintechs are vulnerable to several bad actors who may be hard to control. Kenya’s Proceeds of Crime and Anti-Money Laundering Act (POCAMLA) 2009 has a lot of rules to stop money laundering schemes and other serious financial crimes.

An airtight system is never completely secure, and when the organization in question is a fintech, this might happen frequently. In light of this, regulators either modify or update any current frameworks.

Kenya’s Proceeds of Crime and Anti-Money Laundering Act (POCAMLA) 2009 has a lot of rules to stop money laundering schemes and other serious financial crimes.
Because of this, the ARA was made. Its job is to find, identify, freeze, seize, and take away the money made from crimes in Kenya. The National Financial Intelligence Unit is a comparable organization in Nigeria (NFIU).

Regulation-related problems frequently do not reach the ARA. The burdensome task of making sure financial services providers adhere to these rules is carried out by the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK). When businesses don’t follow these rules and the CBK can’t keep an eye on them directly, the ARA will have to step in.

In most countries, when a bank notices a questionable transaction, it marks the account as suspicious and asks the consumer to explain its purpose. In more severe situations, In Nigeria, the bank could tell the NFIU what happened, or if it was a big enough deal, the organization could get involved.

It’s important to note that even if the ARA freezes the accounts, it will still need to establish if the persons in question committed any violations.
So far, the agency has gotten some well-known court rulings that froze the bank accounts of questionable companies.

Tags: FintechKenya Asset Recovery Agency
Felicia Akindurodoye

Felicia Akindurodoye

Felicia Akindurodoye is an experienced writer and researcher, whose watchword is originality.

Quick Links

  • Tech News
  • Cryptocurrency
  • Fintech
  • Startups
  • Business
  • Home
  • About
  • Contact Us
  • Advert Rate
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Privacy Policy
  • SiteMap

© 2025 Techpression

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In

We are using cookies to give you the best experience on our website.

You can find out more about which cookies we are using or switch them off in .

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Tech News
    • Africa Tech
    • Global Tech
    • Tech with Pelumy
    • Tech Careers
    • Reviews
    • How To
    • General News
  • Cryptocurrency
  • Business
  • Fintech
  • Startups
  • Featured
  • Ai
  • Tech TV

© 2025 Techpression

techpression.com
Powered by  GDPR Cookie Compliance
Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.

Strictly Necessary Cookies

Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.

3rd Party Cookies

This website uses Google Analytics to collect anonymous information such as the number of visitors to the site, and the most popular pages.

Keeping this cookie enabled helps us to improve our website.