Ghanaian start-up founder allegedly diverted $8 million prior to company's shut down – Report

Founder and CEO of Ghanaian fintech firm Dash, Prince Boakye Boampong is alleged to have diverted huge sums of cash prior to the shutting down of the start-up firm which had the goal of providing cross border payment solutions to mobile money users and bank accounts across Africa.

On October 6, 2023, WeeTracker reported the closure of the start-up which is said to have been able to raise up to some $86.1 million in five years from big-name investors. The sudden shutdown of its operations was however confirmed by Dash itself this past week.

According to the portal, founder of the now defunct start-up, Boampong is alleged to have to earned a salary of $50,000 per month and allegedly diverted at least $8 million of the companies’ funds.

The alleged salary of Boampong, when calculated, meant he earned about $600,000 annually as CEO and Founder of a business that was said to have still been struggling to prove itself in a market dominated by notable telecom companies.

WeeTracker in its report suggested that the money was used to buy property and luxury cars although Prince Boakye Boampong is yet to publicly comment on any of the allegations with regards to the start-up.

Dash, which was founded in 2019 burst unto the scene with investors keen on the vision of providing payment solutions across Africa while ensuring interoperability between mobile money wallets and bank accounts across Africa.

How much Dash raised in funding

Within a five-year period, Dash is reported to have raised a total of $86.1 million in funding. A breakdown of the figures saw the start-up raise $32.8 million in a seed round, making it the second largest seed round for an African startup in 2021.

Groups such as Insight Partners led the seed round and other investors like Global Founders Capital, 4DX Ventures and ASK Capital all participated in raising the funds.

From October 2021 to 2022, the Ghanaian led start-up was able to raise additional funding with convertible notes and debt financing.

In view of this feat, the start-up in 2021 started to share rather impressive growth numbers with one publication claiming Dash had processed transactions worth $1 billion.

The publication also pointed out that Dash had acquired a million users from Ghana, Nigeria and Kenya, representing a five-times surge in its users in just five months.

Suspicions of altered growth numbers

In February this year, at least two publications reported suspicions about Dash’s user numbers, purported growth figures and metrics. This then led to the suspension of Prince Boakye Boampong as CEO after an inquiry was made into the numbers.



Internal audits conducted by the start-up later proved that Prince Boakye Boampong indeed exaggerated and misrepresented user and growth figures.

He was later dismissed and replaced by Kenneth Kinshua.

Just after Kinshua took over the reins of Dash, the inevitable seemed to have been done already as WeeTracker reported that another audit of the company’s account showed a shortfall of at least $25 million that was unaccounted for with a reported crash rate of $500,000 per month and no revenue for show for its operations across five countries.

MA/AW



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