The founders of Flexitech Group Limited, the company behind the Kenyan save-now-buy-later fintech FlexPay, have been arrested over the alleged theft of KES 31.2 million ($242,000) belonging to an unnamed major retail chain, adding to scrutiny of the startup after months of customer complaints about delayed withdrawals.
The founders of Flexitech Group Limited, the company behind the Kenyan save-now-buy-later fintech FlexPay, have been arrested over the alleged theft of KES 31.2 million ($242,000) belonging to an unnamed major retail chain, adding to scrutiny of the startup after months of customer complaints about delayed withdrawals.
Martin Kariuki Maina and Johnson Gituma Mwangi were arrested in Roysambu, Nairobi, by detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), the agency said on Wednesday.
The DCI said the two were acting as agents of the retailer and allegedly collected money from customers who had purchased goods and picked them up at several of the retailer’s branches. The money was supposed to be remitted to the retailer.
“The funds had been entrusted to the suspects for onward remittance to the retailer,” the DCI said. “However, detectives established that the two, acting jointly with other suspects still at large, allegedly diverted the funds for their own use.”
The two are expected to be arraigned at the Milimani Law Courts and charged with stealing by agent under Section 283(b) of Kenya’s Penal Code, according to the DCI. Investigations are continuing, with detectives pursuing other people they believe were involved.
The arrests come after months of complaints from FlexPay customers about difficulties accessing money saved on the platform and delays in receiving products they had already paid for.
Recent reviews on Google Play show customers complaining that withdrawals take considerably longer than expected and that they have difficulty getting responses from customer support.
In July, one customer said a KES 15,000 ($116) refund requested in June had still not been processed, while another complained that withdrawals were taking longer than previously. Similar complaints appeared earlier in the year, including from customers who said they had completed their savings goals but were waiting weeks for refunds.
The complaints are significant given how FlexPay’s business operates. The company offers a “save now, buy later” product that allows customers to reserve goods from participating merchants and pay for them in instalments before picking them up. It also operates goal-based and group savings products. FlexPay says it is not a lender or financial institution and describes itself as a payment facilitation and savings platform.
That model has made FlexPay one of a small group of Kenyan fintechs attempting to build an alternative to buy-now-pay-later, which relies on extending credit to consumers.
Founded in 2017, FlexPay attracted investor attention by arguing that many African consumers do not necessarily need more credit to afford expensive purchases. Instead, the company would digitise the traditional lay-by model, allowing customers to make flexible payments on products before taking possession.
By September 2023, the most recent publicly available data on its operations, FlexPay said it had more than 600 merchant partners and had served over 200,000 customers. Customers could register through the app or at participating merchants and make instalment payments on products over an agreed period.
“We just digitised it,” FlexPay co-founder Richard Muchomba told TechCrunch in 2023, describing a model built around consumers gradually paying for products rather than borrowing to buy them.
At the time, FlexPay said it earned a 5% commission on products and services sold through the platform and had raised $785,000 from investors, including Acacia Group, LoftyInc, Expert Dojo, Google Black Founders Fund, and Renew Capital. It was also selected for TechCrunch’s Startup Battlefield 200 cohort in 2023 and was planning expansion into Uganda and Nigeria.
Gituma, one of the two directors arrested on Wednesday, was identified by the company in 2023 as its co-founder and chief operating officer.
FlexPay has since expanded beyond purchases. Its platform advertises FlexPay Goals, which allows users to save towards specific targets, and FlexPay Chama for group savings. Its current terms state that the company is responsible for resolving complaints involving payments, failed transactions, and customers’ savings balances.
The DCI’s investigation concerns money allegedly collected on behalf of a retailer rather than the customer withdrawal complaints. The agency has not said whether the two issues are connected.
The DCI said Maina and Gituma remain in custody as investigators pursue other suspects allegedly linked to the KES 31.2 million.
