Nigerian fintech company, Kora has been declared free of the alleged money laundering and card fraud crimes charged it by Kenya’s Asset Recovery Agency (ARA).
This, we reported when the matter came up in July 2022. The company, alongside Kandon Technologies Ltd, had had their accounts frozen over claims that they are being used by fraudulent individuals as conduits of international money laundering.
The Kenyan High count went on to issue an order “in two separate suits” filed by the Asset Recovery Agency against the Nigerian Tech startups,
The Agency now says it has withdrawn the case for the High Court which it had against the two companies, Korapay Technologies Ltd and Kandon Technologies Ltd., over money laundering and card fraud accusations against.
“Please note that investigations are now finalised. I would like to confirm that allegations of money laundering and card fraud against [Kora] were not established. Please treat this communication as final,” a letter to the DCI reads, as confirmation of case withdrawal.
The good news sparked a feeling of excitement when Kora’s Chief Operations Officer, Gideon Orovwiroro, received it.
“Kora has always maintained its innocence in this matter and we are glad that finally the ARA and the DCI have dropped all charges and ratified Kora. We’d also like to commend both agencies for their professionalism and thoroughness in seeing this investigation to the conclusive end,”Orovwiroro reacted.
He also acknowledged the potential Kenya presents as Korapay hopes pursue ita mission to make it easy for global businesses to accept payments in Africa, and for African businesses to accept global payments. “We are delighted to get back to building the most robust payment product on the African continent,” Orovwiroro noted.
This breeds some kind of “fresh air” for the Nigerian fintech company. For an organisation to be of delivered of an alleged charge of card fraud and money laundering is truly liberating seeing that its name and brand has been protected.
The COO was quick to announce the company is working on the launch of some “exciting” products. Orovwiroro specifically mentioned “multi-currency bank account products for African businesses” which he claimed will empower merchants to have bank accounts in GBP, EUR, USD, and other in-demand currencies.
“Kora is excited about this development as it is further proof of its commitment to enrich the quality of merchants’ payments and build more meaningful financial products,” he added.
These are challenging times for Nigerian fintech companies doing business outside of its local community.
Recall that Flutterwave and ChipperCash were also accused earlier this year and their accounts in the country were frozen.
Other top monetary regulators had begun to look into the activities of Nigerian fintech companies in their countries. The Bank of Ghana announced at the time that it was going to conduct a wide-ranging review of all the activities of Flutterwave in the country.
“The Bank of Ghana is conducting a review on Flutterwave Technology Solutions Limited as part of its continuous surveillance of the financial system,” Ismail Adam, the Head of Bank Supervision at the ghana apex bank said.
The negative impact of this could mean a distortion in Nigeria’s reputation as a digital hub, making investors wary of doing business with Nigerian-based companies.
On the otherside, what if the Asset Recovery Agency of Kenya had done a through investigation before going public with its claims. Why was the case withdrawn, and charges dropped, without mentioning its purpose?
According to its website, ARA is the Kenyan agency that identifies, traces, freezes, seizes, confiscates, and recovers proceeds of crime in the East African country. In July 2022, the agency filed two separate suits, leading to the freezing of Kora’s account alongside those of Kandon Technologies Limited, another Nigerian fintech company, by a Kenyan High Court on July 14th.
