Flutterwave breach: Police to arrest 601 people linked to N21.2b loss

The Nigeria police is set to arrest 601 individuals linked to a technical glitch that resulted in the loss of N21.2 billion ($21.2 million) by Flutterwave in October 2023.

This development comes after a months-long investigation into a technical glitch that led to the fraudulent funds transfers.

The incident, described as one of the largest financial breaches in the country’s fintech sector, involved over 9,663 unauthorized transactions by point-of-sale (POS) merchants.

According to police reports, the glitch allowed agents to carry out transactions exceeding their available balances between October 12 and 13, 2023.

“In 2023, we discovered that certain POS device merchants abused their access by conducting unauthorised transactions. In response to this, we temporarily suspended the accounts where funds were improperly transferred,” Flutterwave said.

“The merchants listed did not provide any service to our client and were not entitled to funds that were erroneously transferred and have continued to keep said funds.”

Earlier this year, an earlier court order placed debit restrictions on those accounts two months after the incident occurred.

This legal order enables Flutterwave to freeze assets and recover funds from the identified accounts, even if the merchants have already spent the disputed money.

However, a media report claimed that the police have been able to make arrests following their investigations into bank accounts and phone numbers of the 814 Flutterwave point-of-sale merchants involved in the nearly 10,000 unauthorized transactions.

It also noted that the police are now set to arrest another 601 account holders suspected to have received proceeds from the glitch.