Know all about Flutterwave Scandal. What is it and what is a new update on this scandal.
When most people think of Africa, they think of poverty, hunger, lawlessness, and corruption. Yet at the same time, Africa has many great tech companies that are making a name for themselves. Today we are going to talk about one such company and its scandal, dubbed the Flutterwave Scandal.
In Africa, a scandal breaking out is not big news but a homegrown tech company making it big on the world stage is not just big news but a moment of pride. Sadly, however, when such a company is involved in a scandal it is even more devastating.
The story of the Flutterwave scandal covers both, the rise of a Kenyan Fintech company and the scandal it was involved in. However, the story is not complete yet and there is more to it. So today we will tell you all about this scandal and speculate what the future holds for all those involved in it.
Flutterwave is a Fintech Company that was founded in Nigeria in 2016. But one cannot consider it solely a Nigerian company as it operates in a large part of Africa and covers many countries. Also, its headquarters is now based in California US.
It is a payment solutions company that offers payment transfer services to individuals and businesses in Africa. The company has done really well despite being less than a decade old and while some of its success can be attributed to the pandemic, one cannot deny the entrepreneurial spirit of its founders.
Despite having poor overall infrastructure, many African countries have seen great success with electronic payment services, mainly through phones. Some of this was enabled by outside companies expanding into Africa and the rest through homegrown companies like the one being discussed that is involved in the Flutterwave scandal.
When we talk about the Flutterwave Scandal, there isn’t one scandal, but two scandals. One scandal involved workplace bullying and resulting lawsuits and the other about money laundering and fraud and we will start with the less complicated scandal and then discuss both in detail.
While not as prominent or famous as the other Flutterwave Scandal, this employee harassment scandal can have serious consequences for the company, both financially and criminal. The company has been subject to many lawsuits filed by former employees who allege they were initially promised stock options in the company.
However, now the company is refusing to grant these stock options to the employees who are entitled to them. Further adding to this scandal, the employees have accused the company of harassing the employees in the workplace and creating a toxic workplace environment.
With multiple lawsuits, it is difficult to track the progress of them all but having multiple lawsuits is not a good sign for the company and whether settled in court or outside the court, they don’t bode well for the company.
This is the scandal that made big headlines, back when it broke back in July 2022, when the Asset Recover Agency or ARA from Kenya froze some of the bank accounts of the company and alleged that the company was involved in fraud and obtaining funds illegally and even laundering them.
The company however denied the scandal and the backdrop to the whole Flutterwave scandal came only a few months later in 2023 when the Kenyan government dropped the case against the company
But the story is not over yet as the Kenyan government froze more accounts of the company in 2023 and alleged that the company was involved in a Ponzi scheme worth over $12 million as accused by over 2000 Nigerian citizens.
This story is still unfolding and it is difficult to say what will happen in the future. For now, the company is still operating successfully, and as for the lawsuits and cases against it we will have to see how they turn out. A few things to note however are that corruption is prevalent in Africa and with funds like the Flutterwave company has, anything is possible.
Secondly, things get more complicated because the case for Ponzi scheme is initiated by the Kenyan courts, while a lot of the alleged victims are Nigerian and moreover the headquarters of the company is based in the US, so it will be an uphill battle for the Kenyan courts.
This is not a single scandal but two involving money laundering and fraud, as well as employee harassment. Read the article above for more details.
Flutterwave is a Fintech company operating in Africa that offers payment transfer solutions.
As of yet, there is no public news of any convictions and the case and lawsuits are still ongoing.
The alleged victims of these scandals are the employees of the company and the many individuals who might have been duped
