Nigerian fintech startup, Kora responds to allegations of fraud, money laundering in Kenya
Nigerian fintech startup, Kora, has reacted to allegations of fraud and money laundering against the company and liquidity management provider Kandon Technologies in Kenya, describing it as empty and unfounded.
Founded by Dickson Nsofor, Kora is a pan-African payment infrastructure that offers a robust payment API for payment collection (disbursements) and disbursements (disbursements), and settlement.
Kora services enable global companies to scale rapidly across Africa. With a single integration, Kora allows companies to accept payments, withdrawals and settles across popular payment channels.
The company responded through a statement, saying that $ 250,000, which was taken to court, was legally deposited in the Kenyan account as part of the capital requirements of the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) to obtain a payment service provider and operator license for money transfers. . .
Kora, which expanded its activities to Kenya last year, says it has documents supporting its position and expresses confidence that the Kenyan courts will see that the allegations against the company are not only completely unfounded, but malicious on the border.
Claims
- Korapay and Kandon Technologies Limited are accused of card fraud and international money laundering.
- The Kenya Asset Recovery Agency (ARA) has filed two lawsuits against the companies, and the Supreme Court has frozen their accounts on suspicion of bringing more than $ 50 million (KES6 billion) into Kenya as part of a money laundering scheme.
- Lady Justice Esther Maina froze $ 249,990 (KES 29.5 million) held in Korapay’s Equity Bank account while Kandon Technologies had $ 126,800 (KES 15 million) in 2 UBA accounts frozen by Justice Maina.
- ARA says the two companies are part of an international ring of scammers who use Kenyan banks to receive money from a foreign source that cannot be traced.
- Their activities came under suspicion when an account received $ 249,990 (29.5 million KES) in a single transaction. Investigations by the Kenyan authorities show that between October 2021 and April this year, the bank accounts had been cumulatively managed (5.5 billion KES).
- ARA says they have confirmed that the companies were established in Kenya to use the country’s liberal financial system to launder money. So far, investigations have linked both companies to a Kenyan businessman – Simon Karanja – whose bank accounts were also frozen.
What they say
However, in response to the allegations, Kora stated in a statement issued by the head of marketing and communications, Gbenga Onalaja, “As part of CBK’s capital requirements to obtain a payment service provider and transfer license, Kora deposited $ 250,000 into its newly opened bank account. In line with the CBK requirements, this amount was left untouched pending the granting of our license. Easily verifiable records of this account will show that the $ 250,000 deposit is the only transaction made on that account to date. “
“Unfortunately, Kora has been dragged through Kenyan courts on empty, unfounded allegations of money laundering since May 2022. As a responsible corporate citizen, we have consistently challenged all of these allegations in court and will continue to do so; we have documents that support our position. We are sure that the Kenyan courts will see that the accusations against us are not only completely unfounded, but malicious on the border.
“Kora is deeply committed to being an ethical African payment company. Across all the jurisdictions we operate from, we adhere to strict compliance standards through strict money laundering (AML) processes. We plan to continue our engagement with Kenyan regulators to resolve this issue, as Kenya remains a crucial part of our African ambitions“, added it.
What you should know
- These allegations come less than a week after another Nigerian fintech, Flutterwave, was also accused of money laundering in Kenya. Flutterwave had also rejected the claim.
- Flutterwave Kenya has responded via a statement dated June 7, denying involvement in financial wrongdoing in the guise of offering merchant services as described in recent reports.
- The company said it earns its fees through a transaction fee, which is available and can be verified.
