The Central Bank of Nigeria on Tuesday, August 17, 2021, froze the bank accounts of four Nigerian fintech companies for allegedly trading illegally
The apex bank had approached the Federal High Court in Abuja to freeze the accounts of Rise Vest Technologies Limited, Bamboo Systems Technology Limited, Chaka Technologies Limited, CTL/Business Expenses, and Trove Technologies Limited.
The motion was filed by Chief Micheal Kaase Aondoakaa, SAN, on behalf of the CBN Governor, Mr Godwin Emefiele, for the purpose of probing the financial activities of these four fintech companies in Nigeria.
The CBN alleged that the companies were operating without license as asset management companies, “and utilizing FX sourced from the Nigerian FX market for purchasing foreign bonds/shares in contravention of the CBN circular referenced TED/FEM/FPC/GEN/01/012, dated July 01, 2015.”
The prosecutor told Justice Ahmed Mohammed that the foreign exchange deals done with the defendants were making the Naira weaker to the United States dollars, hence, the need to block 15 of their accounts.
The court however ordered the closure of the accused companies’ accounts for a period of 180-days, pending the outcome of CBN’s investigation.
In response to this announcement, Risevest’s CEO Eke Eleanya Urum and Bamboo have come out on Twitter (that’s banned) to assure users of Risevest that trading activities will continue as usual and the issue will be sorted out with the regulators.
Hey guys, in respect to the most recent news regarding @Risevest and our FX dealings, rest assured all user investments and funds are safely managed, funding and withdrawals will continue to be processed as normal and all our US operations are intact.— Steve Jobs of Investing (@eldivyn) August 17, 2021
Hi everyone, we’re aware of the recent reports about us. Our legal and government relations teams are looking into it but we thought it was important to let you know that your money remains safe with Bamboo and will always be readily accessible.— Bamboo (@investbamboo) August 17, 2021
