Nigerian fintech company, Flutterwave, has been sued by 2,468 Nigerian nationals in a Kenyan court, for allegedly being the medium through which they were defrauded of Ksh1.6 billion ($12.04 million).
Last week, after hearing the case, Judge Alfred Mabeya gave the order to freeze 45 Flutterwave bank accounts and 10 mobile money wallets for 14 days.
Additionally, six other financial institutions that hold the company’s funds have been named as interested parties.
Among the interested parties named, five of them are banks including Access Bank, Ecobank, and Safaricom PLC.
Safaricom PLC’s involvement is due to Flutterwave operating 10 PayBill Numbers on their MPesa Platform.
Flutterwave’s image took a hit in July 2022, when Kenya’s Assets Recovery Agency (ARA) sued the company on charges of card fraud and money laundering leading to some US$52 million of Flutterwave’s money being frozen on that occasion. But the charges were later dropped and the company was allowed access to its money.
The African fintech unicorn has a history of surmounting legal and other obstacles to forge ahead in its growth.
