Olugbenga Agboola, CEO Flutterwave has for the first time since a week ago he was accused of perjury, sexual harassment, insider trading, etc, addressed the allegations in a letter sent to staff of the company.
“I’m writing today because I want you to know how concerned I am about the impact that reading the false allegations against our company has had on you,” he wrote. “It is my responsibility to address the concerns you may have, and this will be a priority for me moving forward.”
One of the allegations against the CEO was his involvement with his previous employer Access bank while working on Flutterwave in the early days. According to the report, Agboola allegedly didn’t let his previous employers know he was working on the startup and accused the CEO of taking advantage of his position and resources to build flutterwave.
Agboola denied the allegation suggesting that his former boss knew about the new startup and the role he was playing in it.
“The allegations about how I started the company are untrue. I shared with you during the retreat that a former boss helped us close one of our enterprise clients. I am thankful for the learning and the mentorship I received at the numerous employers I worked with before starting flutterwave,” he wrote.
On accusation of insider trading, Agboola said he created an investment vehicle that cashed in on share prices sold below the company’s valuation to employees who had stock options especially before a fundraising round.
Read also: Flutterwave allegations: How Uber overcame the Kalanick palaver
“We adhered to all legal processes and procedures, including obtaining board approval when needed, approving the sale of shares and we also worked closely with our outside law firms to stay in compliance with all applicable regulations” Agboola said.
Clara Wanjiku Odera, an ex and current CEO of credrails on 4th April accused the company and its CEO of bullying and sexual harrassment
Agboola said the company had previously investigated employee sexual harassment allegations including those made against him and former co-founder and CEO Iyinoluwa Aboyeji. The investigation according to him found nothing and terminated employees who have been inappropriate toward team members.
“We have always had a zero tolerance policy to sexual harassement and we will contiune to take actions when necessary, No exceptions,” he noted.
A report by TechCrunch stated that there are still some pending allegations which were not addressed by Agboola, which might be addressed in the future. This includes creating a fictitious co-founder and CTO identity called “Greg” to allocate more shares to himself which made him the major shareholder in the company.
Agboola in an interview with TechCabal said he already addressed the fictitious co-founder allgeation but he didn’t address it in the email to flutterwave staff.
The chief executive didn’t also respond to the accusations that flutterwave performed fraudulent activities with investors’ knowledge against its clients
He also was silent on the ongoing court case brought by Clara Wanjiku Odera against Flutterwave and another employee, who according reports is suing flutterwave for not offering her stock options after three years working on a senior role.
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