What is the Flutterwave Scandal? All You Need to Know 2024

Former workers claim instances of harassment, poor leadership, and significant administrative blunders at the startup, which holds a valuation exceeding $3 billion.

Flutterwave, one of Africa’s leading fintech unicorns, has several undisclosed secrets. A former employee of Flutterwave recently published a shocking post on Medium, accusing CEO Robert Kwong of harassment towards her and other employees at the company.

Allegations against Olugbenga Agboola and his company, Flutterwave, range from fraud and insider trading to sexual harassment. These serious accusations have been made by former employees through Medium posts and tweets on Twitter.

The reputation of Flutterwave Scandal, a rapidly growing fintech startup, could be seriously damaged by these allegations. We have spoken to former employees who claim that these accusations reflect ongoing issues within the company.

Following a highly controversial article written by former employee Clara Wanjiku Odero on Medium, Flutterwave’s leadership and culture have faced significant scrutiny. Odero accused CEO Olugbenga Agboola of harassment and neglectful behavior during her time at Flutterwave.

Flutterwave, once Nigeria’s fintech unicorn, has faced scandals and subsequent investigations into its operations. From being a disruptive force in African payments, the company is now under scrutiny from authorities due to multiple investigations.

The recent controversy surrounding Flutterwave revolves around its CEO, Olugbenga Agboola. Former employees have come forward with accounts of harassment and inappropriate conduct displayed by him.

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A Concise Overview of Flutterwave: An Introduction

Before we delve into the controversy at hand, it is essential to establish a contextual understanding of Flutterwave and its importance in the realm of financial technology. Flutterwave is a renowned company specializing in fintech, offering comprehensive payment solutions to both businesses and individuals. With a core objective of streamlining transactions throughout Africa and other emerging markets, Flutterwave aims to enhance accessibility to digital payments for all.

Olugbenga Agboola, the Founder and CEO

Despite being one of Africa’s most renowned fintech startups, Flutterwave has faced numerous challenges that have tarnished its reputation. Founded in 2016, the company provides payment solutions to small businesses and merchants across the continent. With a valuation of $3 billion and a user base of over 150,000, Flutterwave has been a prominent player in the industry. However, allegations of dubious business and personal practices by its founder and CEO, Olugbenga Agboola, have cast a shadow over the company. Although these claims have been refuted by the leadership team and company management, they still have the potential to undermine Flutterwave’s standing among its audience, diminishing its appeal as a beloved startup.

In addition to these controversies, Flutterwave has encountered difficulties in recruiting employees due to its problematic work culture. The company’s workplace environment has caused significant unease, and allegations of workplace misconduct in 2022 have further damaged its image. Moreover, potential legal issues may hinder Flutterwave’s ability to go public in the future.

Recently, Flutterwave’s once-pristine reputation was shaken by troubling controversies. Former staff members have made allegations of sexual harassment and fraud, straining the company’s previously untarnished image with unsettling controversy. Additionally, Kenya has frozen all local accounts associated with Flutterwave due to suspicions of money laundering, further entangling the company in scandal.

These serious allegations against Flutterwave’s founder and CEO pose a threat to the company’s expansion as a global payment powerhouse, potentially damaging its brand in Africa’s thriving startup ecosystem.

Former employees of Flutterwave have shared that the company’s workplace culture took a significant downturn in 2017 when Ifeoluwa Orioke, also known as “GB,” became the chief financial officer. According to these employees, GB allegedly used his position and resources to engage in sexual relationships with female staff members under his authority. Furthermore, he reportedly made threats to harm several individuals, including the CEO, if they did not comply. GB eventually left Flutterwave in 2022 without providing any comment on the matter.

In a separate scandal, Clara Wanjiku Odero accused Credrails’ CEO of engaging in insider trading, fraud, and sexual harassment. Odero, who was previously an employee of Credrails and is now its CEO, made these allegations public through a Medium post and a series of tweets. She claimed that the company’s toxic culture and the CEO’s misconduct created an environment where employees were afraid to speak out. Odero specifically accused the CEO of sexism, retaliating against women, bullying, and exerting control over others. She also detailed the physical and emotional abuse she experienced during her time as a senior developer at the company.

Following the scandal, Credrails made commitments to change its culture and increase transparency. This included the formation of a new board of directors with notable figures from the tech industry, such as Iyinoluwa Orioke and Simon Ngige. The company’s management also pledged to thoroughly investigate any allegations and review their hiring process.

Flutterwave was founded by Agboola, an MBA graduate from MIT with extensive experience in building fintech products for digital firms and banks. The company was established to address gaps in the African payments market. Their mobile app allows developers and merchants to accept mobile money payments from any wallet worldwide.

The company’s rapid adoption in the region has been the driving force behind its value creation. It has successfully expanded its reach to over 15 nations since its launch, gaining acceptance from prominent mobile networks like Safaricom in Kenya.

This startup has garnered support from investors like Tiger Global and Greycroft. Additionally, its CEO is renowned for being an active angel investor and early-stage venture capitalist in African tech startups. They hold stakes in more than 25 startups, many of which have been recognized as innovators by Quartz Africa in 2019 or listed on TIME’s 2021 roster of African tech leaders.

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What Is the Flutterwave Scandal?

Ongoing analysis of the Nigerian fintech business Flutterwave Scandal comes from cases of extortion and illegal tax avoidance. Reports guarantee that Flutterwave’s accomplices and dealers have taken part in a scope of crimes, including extortion, phishing tricks, and tax evasion.

Various clients’ grumblings about being exploited by Flutterwave’s shippers prompted the embarrassment’s openness. A test uncovered that Flutterwave has ignored cautions about suspect merchants utilizing its foundation. The organization continued working with these dodgy shippers and handling unlawful exchanges for their benefit despite many advance notice signs.

Flutterwave has denied having any immediate hand in any unlawful action. Pundits counter that the business missed dubious exchange designs and didn’t as expected explore its clients. Concerns have been raised concerning Flutterwave’s strategic policies and consistency guidelines because of the issue. Moreover, there are stresses that the organization’s careless methodology might have made it feasible for inescapable misrepresentation and tax evasion.

The Flutterwave story fills in as an advance notice to fintech organizations in Nigeria and somewhere else. It underlines the prerequisite for better standards and consistency to stop the abuse of rising monetary advancements. The discussion is as of now having an effect as major Flutterwave financial backers and leaders are being researched for their likely contribution to the undertaking.

Albeit the Flutterwave outrage is as yet creating, clearly the partnership has far to go before the monetary framework is indeed trusted. For Flutterwave to succeed, stricter consistency and open strategic policies are fundamental.

What’s More to the Allegations in Flutterwave Scandal?

Even though Agboola and his $3 billion valuation of Flutterwave are scandalized by the previously mentioned allegations, there is substantially more in question. The President is likewise accepted to be working for Flutterwave and his previous boss, Access Bank, full-time, without divulgence. As indicated by David’s story, he had been mishandling his position and the bank’s accessible resources. Also, the story infers that he has been found engaging in sexual relations with female workers at Flutterwave who are underneath him.

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What Led to the Outage of the Flutterwave Scandal?

Clara Wanjiku Odero, the previous head of execution at Flutterwave, distributed a hazardous article on Medium that began the entire Flutterwave episode. She said that the President of the organization had irritated her and that she needed to battle to have her exceptional obligations taken care of in the wake of stopping the organization. She added that the organization’s inadequacy brought about the Kenyan specialists investigating her case.

Her allegations pointed the examination in various regions and uncovered various more problematic Flutterwave rehearses and social standards. Odero has developed her cases in a meeting with the Remainder of the World, which likewise talked with twelve extra previous Flutterwave representatives to affirm what she said. Odero’s cases generally comprise the continuous issues with the organization, as per previous laborers.

They likewise revealed that each withdrawing worker had their investment opportunities paid for at a lower rate than they were qualified for and that there had been various purposeful managerial mistakes made in the organization documentation, which had made the leaving representatives face troublesome legitimate issues. Also, these previous specialists pushed for namelessness since they feared the results of coming clean in broad daylight. It portrayed the sort of strain and harmful climate these people probably experienced both while working for the organization and after they left.

A Flutterwave representative sent an email to the remainder of the world after learning of the charges and claims made by the previous workers, criticizing each of the charges made against the business. It guarantees that most of the allegations are made up, repeated issues, or things the business has proactively tended to. The representative further states that the business complies with severe HR guidelines that are continuously changing and serve to treat all staff individuals and workers reasonably.

What Was Known About Flutterwave and Agboola Until the Scandal Came Out?

Agboola is one of the most notable financial specialists in Africa because of Flutterwave, the trailblazer in Nigeria’s web-based installments market with an unrivaled valuation of nearly $3 billion.

Regardless of having gained notoriety for being very withdrawn and making not many media appearances, Agboola had the option to get a spot in each huge professional resource, including Quartz Africa’s 2019 Pioneers, 2020 by Fortune, and those of TIMES 2021.

His profile essentially extended with his interests in the blossoming African organizations, notwithstanding his ubiquity in running one of Nigeria’s top tech new companies. Only a couple of hours after the Flutterwave outrage story went up, he likewise got a huge “Tech Financial Backer of the Year” grant from Business Insider.

Flutterwave has as of late co-drove a $3.4 million arrangement for the UK-based fintech Dapio as a feature of its venture into corporate speculations. The $250 million the organization has raised is expected to be utilized for the most part for forceful promotion and more consumption.

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Flutter Wave’s Response

Flutterwave, a highly valued African startup led by CEO Olugbenga Agboola, has recently faced criticism for engaging in questionable business practices. Nigerian journalist David Hundeyin published an article in West Africa Weekly, outlining several allegations against Flutterwave and Agboola. These allegations range from fraud and insider trading to sexual harassment and misconduct.

According to court documents filed earlier this year, Flutterwave was accused of disregarding alerts about suspicious merchants using its platform. However, Flutterwave denies any involvement in illegal transactions and has made changes to its operations accordingly.

Despite these claims, both employees and customers remain skeptical about the company’s security and transparency. The company has already lost significant clients, including Visa, due to its failure to address suspicious transaction patterns and lax employee oversight policies, which may have contributed to this scandal.

In response to the allegations made against him, Agboola sent an email to Flutterwave staff. He argued that many of the allegations were repetitive or outdated, and some were outright false. Agboola claimed to have personally addressed most of these issues.

Former employees have also come forward with allegations of harassment and predatory behavior by senior management at Visa. Visa’s inadequate response to these claims has drawn further scrutiny, leading to media coverage and ultimately resulting in Visa withdrawing from an investment round planned with Flutterwave.

Clara Wanjiku Odero, a former employee of Flutterwave, shared her experiences on Medium, detailing mistreatment and harassment by the company’s leadership. She claims to have been subjected to belittlement, lies, harassment, and sexual harassment to such an extent that she felt compelled to leave her position at Flutterwave. Odero further alleges that she experienced sexual harassment even before being forced out of the company.

Credrails employee, Clara Wanjiku Odero, has recently taken legal action against Flutterwave and her former employer Visa, seeking compensation for her negative experiences. In addition, she has filed a formal complaint with the police. The Flutterwave scandal has had a significant impact on Africa’s tech community, raising concerns about the company’s leadership and integrity. Despite these scandals, Flutterwave continues to maintain a high valuation and is expected to grow exponentially in the future.

The repercussions of the Flutterwave scandal have been far-reaching, affecting not only the fintech company itself but also the wider tech ecosystem. Investors, employees, and users who had placed their trust in the platform have been affected by allegations ranging from financial impropriety and harassment to misconduct.

Clara Wanjiku Odero, who previously held a position as the head of implementation at Flutterwave, published an article on Medium accusing the company of bullying her and withholding her salary for months after she left. This revelation sparked outrage and raised serious ethical concerns surrounding Flutterwave’s practices.

Numerous other former employees of Flutterwave have come forward to share their own experiences. Iyinoluwa Aboyeji, one of the co-founders of Flutterwave and the creator of talent outsourcing firm Andela, has alleged that she was sexually harassed by the CEO and other senior management members. She was ultimately fired for raising ethical concerns within the company.

Aboyeji has been highly critical of Flutterwave’s handling of the scandal, particularly their response to the allegations made by West Africa Weekly and Substack. She believes that their delayed response demonstrates a lack of transparency, and their statements have been vague and failed to address all the issues raised by West Africa Weekly and Substack.

Explaining the Allegations Against Flutterwave

Ongoing analysis of the Nigerian fintech firm Flutterwave comes from cases of extortion and illegal tax avoidance. Since their presentation in 2016, Flutterwave’s accomplices and vendors have purportedly handled more than $5 billion in installments. In any case, a few doubters battle that a sizable level of these assets were unlawfully washed.

The Key Players

Olugbenga Agboola, Chief of Flutterwave, and Iyinoluwa Aboyeji, CTO, laid out the business to work on installment handling for African banks and organizations. PayPal, Visa, and Stripe are critical financial backers.

Tracing the Money

As per reports, a huge number of dollars were purportedly washed using the Flutterwave stage, especially through “shell organizations” that had no genuine business tasks. As per reports, Flutterwave dismissed bank cautions about problematic exercises and records. Pundits battle that Flutterwave’s quick development and unions with notable organizations should have raised an admonition.

Flutterwave’s faultfinders answer that it is difficult to watch each exchange and that illegal tax avoidance through shell enterprises is broad all over the planet. As per Flutterwave, “we overlook no criminal operations” and “we have a powerful framework set up to recognize and forestall any deceitful exercises.”

Then what?

The cases could hurt Flutterwave’s image, financial backer certainty, and functional reasonability assuming that they end up being certified. However, flutterwave is at present not authoritatively charged. The National Bank of Nigeria is directing an examination to find out Flutterwave’s level of responsibility and the legitimate game plan.

The case shows how critical it is for fintech organizations to focus on consistency and cautiously see how clients use their foundation to keep away from deceptive ways of behaving. To consider organizations more liable for forestalling tax evasion in the computerized economy, new regulation may likewise be required.

The Flutterwave Scandal’s Effects and Repercussions

The Flutterwave embarrassment’s aftermath has been turbulent, to gently put it. Numerous shoppers were left confused and worried about the security of their cash and information when data about misrepresentation and tax evasion arose.

Investigations were started:

Government offices from a few countries began investigating Flutterwave’s tasks and consistency measures. There are stresses that the organization’s advancements might have been broadly utilized for a criminal way of behaving. Assuming Flutterwave is demonstrated answerable for carelessness or intrigue, legitimate repercussions might follow.

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Customers impacted

It’s conceivable that the individual data of every individual who used Flutterwave to send or get cash has been compromised. It is shrewd to look out for any signs of extortion in monetary records. The requirement for multifaceted verification and checking was featured in specific clients’ reports of unapproved exchanges.

Destroyed brand reputation

Because of the contention, many individuals have lost confidence in Flutterwave, and the organization’s standing has endured extraordinarily. Because of safety and moral issues, organizations and individuals might choose to move their activities abroad. To quickly return, it requirements to do whatever it takes to further develop security, ensure consistency, and lift client certainty.

It can require some investment before the full impacts of the Flutterwave undertaking are known. Nonetheless, it is an essential sign of the worth of safety, consistency, and trust for all monetary innovation organizations as well as their clients. To stay away from double-dealing and defend clients, there should be steady scrupulousness and devotion to a moral way of behaving. In general, the situation features the need for more administrative observing and globally coordinated efforts to recognize and shorten far and wide extortion made conceivable by current advancements.

Conclusion

You currently know the whole foundation of the Flutterwave outrage that has been in the information. As a bleeding edge fintech organization, they stretched the limits and extended quickly, however, they didn’t construct solid controls and consistency techniques all the while. Trust was double-crossed because of missteps, and presently they should battle to reestablish it. Fortunately, Flutterwave has conceded its deficiencies, revamped its administration, and promised to improve administration and straightforwardness going for it.

You ought to have a mindful feeling of good faith as a client. As the organization corrected the boat, keep on utilizing the Flutterwave stage and administrations, however, watch out for any signs that they are messing up the same way once more. What’s more, as a business visionary, make the most of this opportunity to learn. Make a strong, moral culture immediately.

Safeguard your ethics even as you mature. Also, as your business develops, never stop refining your controls and oversight. Flutterwave wavered, yet with diligence and a fitting point of view, they can get themselves and continue improving — and you can keep away from their missteps. What’s to come is as yet encouraging, yet alert is fundamental.

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FAQs

What outrage encompasses Flutterwave?

Flutterwave has been the objective of various claims and allegations that it denied ex-representatives stock privileges and encouraged a threatening workplace. The company answered by saying it had made a move against those liable for the badgering inside the association.

Who is the Flutterwave Chief?

Olugbenga Agboola

Helping to establish and acting President of Flutterwave is Olugbenga Agboola. Before assisting with making Flutterwave, Olugbenga dealt with the making of fintech items for various computerized firms and banks, including PayPal and Standard Bank.

How does Flutterwave make money?

Flutterwave brings in cash by demanding a charge on every exchange. For homegrown card buys, there is a 2.9% expense, while for unfamiliar card exchanges, there is a 3.8% charge. Various nations have various expenses for portable cash, wallets, and moves to ledgers situated in different countries.

How much was hacked from Flutterwave?

3,9 billion

The installments fintech Flutterwave on Sunday discredited a Techpoint report that guaranteed clients’ resources adding up to 2.9 billion were taken by programmers. Flutterwave expressed it seen bizarre ways of behaving in its frameworks and encouraged clients to actuate security components in response to the news. It contended, in any case, that clients lost no cash.