In October 2024, employees at Marasoft Pay, a Nigerian fintech founded by Emmanuel Marakwe-Ogu, briefly celebrated the payment of two months of overdue salaries.

However, their relief quickly turned to despair when their accounts—and those of individuals they had transferred money to—were abruptly frozen.

The funds were flagged as originating from a suspected fraudulent source, leaving employees caught in an unexpected financial storm.

Marasoft Pay operates in Nigeria and Kenya, providing payment collection services for businesses and individuals. However, lacking a local license in Kenya, it relies on a Flutterwave wallet for processing transactions, a system it has used since 2022..

Kenyan court records reveal that Marasoft was among the fintechs that deposited over $55 million into Flutterwave accounts that year.

The trouble began on October 16, 2024, when a system glitch gave Marasoft access to funds exceeding the balance in its Flutterwave wallet.

This allowed the company to withdraw over ₦84 million ($54,000). Records show that CEO Marakwe-Ogu initiated 102 withdrawals in just 12 hours, all linked to his personal bank verification number (BVN) and phone number.

The timing of this glitch coincided with escalating tension at Marasoft. A week earlier, employees had ceased working due to frustration over unpaid salaries.

Despite operations being paused on October 10, the company continued processing transactions. Between October 16 and 17, Marakwe-Ogu used ₦35 million from the Flutterwave wallet to pay overdue salaries.

Employees quickly noticed discrepancies when the payments came directly from the company account, bypassing the usual human resources process.

Their concerns were validated when accounts began to be frozen, sparking legal battles for over 40 workers trying to unfreeze their funds. Flutterwave, in an email to a former Marasoft employee, confirmed that the deposited funds had been traced to a fraudulent merchant, triggering investigations.

Further complicating matters, Marakwe-Ogu transferred ₦49 million to various accounts, including a VFD Bank account he controlled, via payment processors like Transact Pay.

By October 24, Transact Pay issued a recall for transactions worth ₦19.3 million, leaving employees scrambling for answers as they faced mounting financial distress.

Despite telling employees that the account restrictions were a mistake, Marakwe-Ogu agreed to a five-month repayment plan with Flutterwave, set to expire in February 2025.

However, by November, the situation had worsened. Employees began resigning en masse, and Marakwe-Ogu cut off communication, removing them from the company’s WhatsApp group and ignoring their calls.

For many employees, the fallout has been devastating. One former worker, whose account was frozen, had to borrow money from her father to repay contributions to a savings group (esusu). “It was an incredibly difficult situation,” she shared, reflecting on the emotional and financial toll of the ordeal.

Despite the chaos, Marasoft resumed operations in January 2025, with at least eight employees returning to the company, even as salaries remain unpaid and accounts frozen.

Efforts to reach Marakwe-Ogu for comments have been unsuccessful. The incident remains a stark reminder of the financial vulnerabilities employees face in volatile work environments, where trust can be shattered as quickly as a glitch in the system.