International remittances companies Multigate Ltd, RemX Holdings and OIT Africa have been cleared of all wrongdoing by Kenyan and international regulatory bodies after High Court of Kenya had frozen Sh5.6billion in six different bank accounts.
The companies were under probe for months following allegations of impropriety over its business dealings in Kenya.
In separate statements, Kenya’s Assets Recovery Authority (ARA), the Directorate of Criminal Investigations and Interpol all cleared the companies over allegations of money laundering and operating within the East African country without a license.
“Please note that the investigations are now finalized. I would like, therefore to confirm that the allegations of money laundering and card fraud made against the companies could not be established,” a letter from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations to global body Interpol reads.
Three Nigerians and two Kenyans wired Sh25.6 billion between October and November 2020, setting off alarm bells in Europe and at the global police agency Interpol over possible money laundering.
Bank statements provided by a European investigator had revealed a cross-continental operation that moved huge sums of dollars to Kenyan banks and wired them to multiple companies registered locally with shared ownership and suspect addresses.
The cash movement over the two months involved over 10 companies owned by the same individuals and registered under near-identical names in Kenya, Dubai, US, Nigeria and Ghana.
As companies with global operations, they were also the subject of investigations by global watchdog Interpol, who also conducted a months-long probe on the company.
According to Multigate Ltd, the investigations weighed heavily on the company’s operations, bringing its reputation to question.
The investigations found no evidence of money laundering or the involvement of any Kenyan politicians in the operations or business of the company.
Following the clearance, Kenya’s High Court on September 7, 2022 lifted a 6-month freeze on the company’s bank accounts.
ARA’s investigator handling the matter said in a sworn affidavit presented to court that the agency is satisfied with the operations of the companies.
“The Agency is so far satisfied with the explanation and evidence tendered by the companies and wishes to withdraw the pending forfeiture application,” Musyoki said in the affidavit in our possession.
The companies have also reassured their partners of a full resumption of operations across the markets within which it operates.
Multigate is a financial services technology company founded in 2017.
It provides remittance services to financial institutions and cash flow management services to corporates globally.
The company employs more than 200 people across several countries.
In May, Multigate became the first African financial technology firm to be on-boarded on SWIFT as a shared-platform provider for corporates as well as other fin-tech firms across the continent and beyond. Following the vote of confidence from the authorities, Kenyan courts on 7th September issued a court order unfreezing accounts in Kenya affiliated to the company following the withdrawal of an affidavit that had faulted Multigate operations within the country.
This development now enables the company to administer cross-border payment and treasury management, corporate-to-banks and handle messaging operational challenge throughout major markets.
Headquartered in Nigeria with offices in Dubai, Kenya, Ghana, Tanzania, Uganda and soon to launch in Rwanda and South Africa, Multigate Limited was founded to focus on financial technology solutions with the aim to simplify treasury management and cross-border payments for organizations operating in Africa.