A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has ordered with immediate effect the unfreezing of the bank accounts of Risevest, a Nigerian investment fintech.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) back in August froze the accounts of four investment fintech in the country including Trove, Chaka, Rise and Bamboo. The accounts freezing came after the CBN was granted an exparte motion from the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja.
The motion was filed on behalf of the Central Bank Of Nigeria Governor, Godwin Emefiele, by Chief Micheal Kaase Aondoakaa, SAN, for the purpose of probing the defendants’ financial activities in Nigeria.
The CBN alleged that Risevest Technologies Limited, Bamboo Systems Technology Limited, Chaka Technologies Limited and Trove Technologies Limited were complicit in 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.”
But in his ruling, Justice Taiwo O. Taiwo held that the CBN could not rely on a mere circular to freeze the bank account of a company using its bank accounts to trade in cryptocurrency. Based on this premise, the judge allowed RIsevest to have unhindered access to its accounts.
Responding to the unfreezing of its account, Risevest said in a statement: “We are excited to announce that the Abuja Federal High Court has unfrozen our bank accounts. According to them, we now have unfettered access to our accounts.
“We have been engaging with CBN to make sure that all the issues raised in the initial announcement and all relevant issues around our business are properly resolved and that we continue to do our work in a safe, compliant and beneficial way.
“During this time, users have been funding and withdrawing as normal and all our services have continued to run. Also, our US operations continue unhindered.
“We thank everyone especially our amazing users, investors, and community for their counsel, encouragement and support. Our mission to connect our users to the best wealth opportunities locally and globally continues and we are excited to continue that journey with you all.”
