Yellow Card Saga: Cameroonian clients vow to retrieve money ‘confiscated’ by American company

The Cameroon country Manager of Yellow Card, an American fintech operating in Cameroon, is still in pre-trial detention at the Douala maximum prison in New Bell.

Barrister Jonnie Fonyam was arrested by two of the company’s clients Cameroonian Lawyer detained: Yellow Card seeks intervention of Ambassador as clients accuse US fintech of ‘confiscating money’ – Cameroon News Agency

Yellow Card Cameroon reportedly asked the clients to send money for conversion but when the money came in FCFA over 500 million, Yellow Card said it was confiscating it for an old debt, but Bosecx FX and Fon Tifuh FG Enterprise explained that they do not owe Yellwo Card as every transaction were done after Yellow Card confirmed receiving money.

“The business was being carried out basely on trust and each time there was any payment, the clients
indicated on the platform and the manager in Cameroon confirmed the payments on the platform before
Dollars could be given to the clients. The last transactions were done in December 2021 after which the clients wrote to Yellow Card requesting to buy Dollars right up to May 2022, but they refused to sell by presenting very high prices so they decided to stop buying from Yellow Card, but communication continued,” a joint statement from the two appellants was released on New Year Day.

The clients also said that Yellow Card used to accept cash payments but later stopped, an allegation Jonnie Fonyam’s legal representative, Barrister Fey, told CNA that it was a lie.

But the clients went further to narrate, “There were three means of payment; through bank deposit, cash, and MOMO, and on the 19th of October 2021, Yellow Card issued a statement to all her clients including BODANG and FON that as of that date, all transactions should only be done through bank transfer and any other electronic means and that “No cash transaction whatsoever will be accepted” and after that date, this was respected.”

It was only after 48 hours that we received a message from Yellow Card claiming that they had some
transactions with us up to the 18th of October 2021 and noticed that all monies were never paid into their account. We were so embarrassed given that our companies only came into existence after the said period.

The two clients also disclosed that before dragging the matter to competent authorities, they had struggled to make an out-of-court settlement by having negotiations and meetings in which Barrister Feh allegedly agreed in one of the discussions that Yellow Card would pay them but they should provide receipts of the money the allegedly paid in cash to the former Manager Ndikombui Nigel.

Still in our frustration our lawyer filed a complaint against Ndikombui and he was arrested by the judicial
police. We informed Bar Feh to send the representative of Yellow Card to the police to confirm that they
had never received the cash payment done by us to them through their Manager in a convocation, but
Barrister Feh refused to take the convocation that we should take it to the Yellow Card office meanwhile he had informed our lawyer at the time that any correspondence related to this matter be addressed to him. We took the convocation to the office of Yellow Card and realized that the office was locked and the guard informed us that since this matter started, they have not been coming to the office. Ndikombui was released after still presenting the settlement agreement and indicating that we could not be given dollars when money was not paid either through Momo or by cash or by bank.”

The two clients also wondered how Yellow Card has been making forward and backward statements,

“It should also be noted that when this started, Yellow Card asked for acknowledgment receipts, and when they saw our actions, they said “It is clear he took your money but he didn’t give us. He has assets and you can go and claim them from him”. Even Fonyam who initially said we should bring receipts and get our funds so they can go after Nigel, contradicted himself saying we should get our monies from Nigel. Another unfounded argument from Yellow Card states that we’re closer to Ndikombui in Cameroon to get the monies from him, than Yellow Card that is in America. So funny!”

The case against Fonyam will be held on Tuesday, January 2, 2024, in Douala and the clients are pleading with the judge to force Yellow Card to refund their money.