Nigerian fintech company, Korapay is set to resume its payment operations in Kenya following a decision by the Asset Recovery Agency (ARA) to drop all charges of money laundering and fraud against the company.
On 19 October 2022, ARA filed a notice of withdrawal at the High Court of Kenya at the Nairobi Anti-Corruption and Economic Crimes Division. The court papers filed by Stephen Githinji, the state counsel on behalf of ARA, noted the intention to withdraw the suit in its entirety.
The Kenyan authorities had in July ordered a freeze on the account of Korapay worth $249,565 and two accounts worth a combined $126,841 belonging to Kandor Technologies for alleged international money laundering.
Korapay objected to the charges saying it has always followed the books and ensured every KYC was observed in all its transactions. The money the ARA alleged was laundered was deposited in the account to enable it to secure its licence from the Kenyan central bank.
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“What we did wasn’t any different from what an innocent party would have done. We showed the ARA team the facts, worked them through our business model,” said Gideon Orovwiroro, Chief Operating Officer, Korapay.
Korapay also presented its Anti-money laundering document and all policies that apply to it as a payment institution.
The company is looking forward to rewarding the trust placed on it by its customers whose faith were unwavering by resuming its operations as well as launching new products. Orovwiroro says the company has some products on the pipeline, including multi-currency bank account service which it is excited to share with the Kenyan market.
“We must appreciate the ARA, DCI for finally concluding the litigation in the matter and we are glad that they finally approved our position that we never did anything wrong in the first place,” he said.
The Kenyan central bank is yet to approve the company’s licence, however Korapay’s account has been unfrozen and the application process is back on track.
“It is important to realise the mandate of central banks. They are there to protect the public. That is an important role regardless of what the sentiment of the market is. Players like us, our job is to work with the regulator to figure out the terrain,” said Orovwiroro.
