Police in Kenya have taken into custody two men linked to a popular savings and shopping app after claims that large sums of money meant for a big retail company never reached their destination.
Martin Kariuki Maina and Johnson Gituma Mwangi, directors of Flexitech Group Limited which runs the FlexPay platform, were picked up in the Roysambu area of Nairobi by officers from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations.
Authorities say the pair acted as agents for an unnamed major retailer. Customers bought goods, collected them from various branches, and handed over payment.
That money was supposed to go straight to the retail chain. Instead, detectives believe Maina and Mwangi, working with others who remain free, kept the funds for themselves.
The amount involved stands at about 31.2 million Kenyan shillings, roughly 242,000 US dollars. The two men are expected to appear at Milimani Law Courts on charges of stealing by agent.
The arrests arrive at a difficult time for FlexPay. For months customers have complained online and on review sites about long waits to withdraw savings or receive goods they had already paid for in instalments.
Some say refunds requested weeks earlier still have not arrived, while others report that customer support simply does not answer.
The company positions itself as a digital version of the old lay-by system. Shoppers save gradually for items from partner stores and only take possession once the full amount is paid.
FlexPay insists it is not a bank or a lender, only a platform that helps people set money aside. By 2023 the service claimed hundreds of merchant partners and more than 200,000 users.
It had raised nearly 800,000 dollars from investors and talked of expanding into neighbouring countries. One of the arrested directors had been publicly named as co-founder and chief operating officer during that earlier period of growth.
Investigators have not linked the missing retail funds to the customer withdrawal problems, yet the timing deepens public questions about how the platform handles money entrusted to it. Detectives say they are still looking for other people believed to have taken part in the alleged diversion.
Meanwhile Maina and Mwangi remain in custody as the case moves forward.
