Nigerian startup Korapay is upbeat after the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) dropped fraud charges against the firm.
A withdrawal notice from the high court of Kenya at Nairobi Anti-Corruption and Economic Crimes Division, indicated that the DCI in conjunction with Kenya's Asset Recovery Agency had withdrawn the Ksh 30M case.
“Take notice that the applicant herein has withdrawn its application dated July 8, 2022, in its entirety with no orders as to cost,” part of the notice read.
The state counsel Stephen Githinji who acted on behalf of Kenya's Asset Recovery Agency director, confirmed that it had withdrawn the suit.
The DCI had also issued a previous notice stating that the marketplace for financial services had been cleared of any wrongdoing in the ARA application.
The agency made it clear that the communication was final after a thorough investigation process.
“I would like to confirm that allegations of money laundering and card fraud against Kora were not established. Please treat this communication as final," DCI stated.
In July 2022, ARA filed two separate suits, leading to the freezing of Kora’s account alongside those of Kandon Technologies Limited, another Nigerian fintech company, by the Kenyan High Court.
The two Techstars-backed companies would not access the frozen accounts for six months until ARA completed its investigations.
Kora's Chief Operations Officer, Gideon Orovwiroro commended the DCI for being professional in their investigation.
“Kora has always maintained its innocence in this matter and we are glad that finally the ARA and the DCI have dropped all charges and ratified Kora,” he stated.
He added that he would be sharing some exciting news revolving around the business that would include multi-currency bank account products for African businesses.
“We are delighted to get back to building the most robust payment product on the African continent. This will empower merchants to have bank accounts in GBP, EUR, USD and other in-demand currencies. Kora is excited about this development as it is further proof of its commitment to enrich the quality of merchants' payments and build more meaningful financial products," he announced.
This came in the wake of a number cases collapsing due to lack of evidence. In October, lawyers raised concerns over the trend.
The Law Society of Kenya (LSK) stated that it would institute private prosecutions of the individuals should the Director of Public Prosecutions fail to provide concrete reasons for letting them off the hook.
“The DPP must give an explanation, failure to which we will review evidence in the cases and proceed with a private prosecution. The DPP ought to resubmit the investigating files and seal the gaps but not withdraw cases,” part of the statement read.
