Flutterwave is under fire and facing allegations of financial misdeeds, including money laundering, insider trading, fraud, and perjury.
The news comes as the company prepares to list its shares in an IPO, which will allow investors to purchase shares of the company on the open market.
Agboola, a well-known tech entrepreneur and billionaire, is the CEO of Flutterwave, a technology firm with offices in San Francisco and Nigeria. In just one year, the six-year-old tech firm’s valuation has surged to $3 billion under his leadership.
According to sources familiar with the situation, the tech firm has begun searching for investors for its planned IPO in the United States and possibly Nigeria. However, because the talks are still in the early stages, it has not yet mandated financial advisers.
The preparations for the startup’s IPO come amid allegations of financial impropriety. Recently, more than $52.5 million in cash deposits were frozen across 62 bank accounts owned by the startup and four Kenyans on suspicion of being the proceeds of card fraud and money laundering.
Patrick Njoroge, the governor of the Central Bank of Kenya, stated nearly two weeks ago that Agboola’s Flutterwave is providing remittance services and operating payment businesses in Kenya without the necessary licenses.
The statement has been characterized as a regulatory setback that may have an impact on the operations of the fintech behemoth and the expansion of the African fintech ecosystem. Njoroge named Chipper Cash, another African fintech heavyweight, as one company that is not permitted to operate remittance businesses, or to provide payment services to merchants in Kenya.
Despite the allegations, Flutterwave CFO Oneal Bhambani, who joined the company in June, stated that preparations for the firm’s IPO are continuing.
“Operationally, we are putting in place all aspects of controls, processes, and infrastructure to prepare for an IPO subject to market conditions,” he said. “Given Flutterwave’s market position and strong balance sheet, the company has a significant growth opportunity over the next few years.”
Experts believe that waiting until at least next year to address the allegations will benefit Flutterwave, and that its valuation will be higher if investors are given sufficient time to rebalance, as all attention is presently focused on the global market downturn.
