Court has blocked a state agency from withdrawing a Ksh6.2 billion money laundering case against a Nigerian fintech that has been at the centre of a protracted dirty money probe.
Justice Prof Nixon Sifuna in his ruling on Thursday, July 20, cited that the Assets Recovery Agency (ARA) did not give reasons for the withdrawal even after spending taxpayers’ resources to pursue the case.
ARA sought to have the accounts for Flutterwave Payment Technology Limited, Hupesi Solutions and Adguru Technology Limited unfrozen, arguing they had cleared the trio in a dirty cash probe.
In a case filed before Milimani Law Courts, the ARA informed the Court that it had filed a notice withdrawing the case, after months of investigations.
“On perusing the said Notice (made by ARA), I found that it did not give any reasons for the withdrawal,” the judge ruled.
“It also did not allude to there having been negotiations or a settlement, or the terms of such negotiations or settlements.”
The court has ruled that public agencies such as ARA have a role to tell Kenyans the reasons behind key decisions as they are funded by taxpayers.
“Vices like corruption, money laundering, economic crime and organised crime are cancer and public interest. Therefore, prosecuting or litigating such matters is a higher calling. For agencies like Assets Recovery Agency (ARA) and EACC that are established to deal with these matters, promote integrity and protect public resources, their own integrity ought to be beyond reproach. The integrity of their own decisions and actions ought to be beyond reproach,” the judge stated in his ruling.
The three companies, who had been listed as respondents, asked the court to clear them since the government expressed no interest in pursuing the cases further.
Flutterwave told the Court that the Recovery Agency had exhaustively investigated the money laundering case and found no evidence. In lieu of that, the respondents did not wish to waste judicial time with further proceedings.
Despite the arguments made by ARA and the respondents, the High Court declined to make such a ruling, maintaining the accounts freeze.
“On perusing the said Notice (made by ARA), I found that it did not give any reasons for the withdrawal. It also did not allude to there having been negotiations or a settlement, or the terms of such negotiations or settlement,” the Court ruled.
In July 2022, the High Court froze 45 bank accounts and 10 mobile money wallets belonging to Flutterwave due to multiple money laundering allegations.
The company that facilitates cross-border payments for small and large businesses in Africa had its accounts frozen after ARA suspected it was moving proceeds of crime and engaging in credit card fraud.
ARA in February 2023, made a formal request to withdraw the case stating that investigations had shown the money was not tied to money laundering.
The companies were among many others that were accused of moving billions of shillings in foreign currencies in and out of Kenya without proper authorisation.
