As Bloomberg News reported Thursday (July 7), Kenya’s High Court has locked the company out of its 52 multi-currency accounts, which are spread across three banks and hold more than $40 million.
The court’s ruling was based on an application from the Assets Recovery Agency under anti-money laundering (AML) regulations. The court’s order says Flutterwave is barred from “transacting, withdrawing, transferring” the money for 90 days.
“Claims of financial improprieties involving the company in Kenya are entirely false, and we have the records to verify this,” Flutterwave said in a statement on its website.
“Through our financial institution partners, we collect and pay on behalf of merchants and corporate entities. 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.”
The company added that its AML practices and operations are regularly audited by one of the big four firms.
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Learn more: FinTech Flutterwave Debuts in Tanzania
The company, headquartered in Lagos, Nigeria, and San Francisco, facilitates cross-border, multi-currency transactions for local companies as well as international firms such as Uber and Alibaba’s Alipay.
In March, Flutterwave received approval from the Bank of Tanzania to launch its service in the East African nation. eCommerce transaction value in Tanzania is expected to hit $907 million by the end of the year, with the number of customers projected to exceed 14 million by 2025.
Also this year, Flutterwave closed a $250 million Series D financing round, bringing the startup’s value to an estimated $3 billion.
See also: Flutterwave Raises $250M Series D at $3B Valuation
The company’s backers include B Capital Group, Alta Park Capital, Whale Rock Capital and Lux Capital, among others. Past investors include Glynn Capital, Avenir Growth, Tiger Global, Green Visor Capital and Salesforce Ventures.
