The news
- The Asset Recovery Agency has dropped money laundering charges against three Nigerian companies – RemX Capital Limited, Avalon Offshore Logistics Limited, and OIT Africa Limited.
- The ARA had in April 2022, demanded that accounts belonging to the three companies be frozen pending a petition to forfeit the funds to the government.
The Asset Recovery Agency in Kenya has dropped money laundering charges against three Nigerian companies after declaring that the response given regarding the source of the funds was satisfactory.
In April 2022, the agency requested a High Court to stop the transfer or withdrawal of Sh5.6 billion ($48.6 million) belonging to the three companies.
At the time, it alleged that the funds were proceeds of money laundering with executives at the company backed by a powerful politician. Reports from the Kenyan media suggested that while investigations were being conducted, the directors of the affected companies refused to honour invitations by the ARA.
Since then, more Nigerian companies have been drawn into a web of money laundering allegations in the East African country with Flutterwave being the most prominent case. Kiwipay, Korapay, and Kando Technologies were some of the startups that were embroiled in the controversy.
At the time these accounts were frozen, a few people insinuated that these were politically motivated as Kenya was preparing for its presidential elections. However, it also exposed the complexity of facilitating cross-border payments in Africa.
The ARA had claimed that all companies were involved in a money laundering scheme but a source speaking to Techpoint Africa disclosed that Flutterwave and Korapay had not done any transaction in Kenya.
With this new development, it could be that Flutterwave, Korapay, Kiwipay, and all the other affected companies could have the charges against them dropped.
