A detailed document obtained by Business Report reveals that Safaricom PLC allegedly facilitated the transfer of Pevans East Africa Limited’s entire operating infrastructure to Milestone Games Limited without receiving payment for the assets.
Pevans, which operated the popular betting platform Sportpesa, was once counted among Kenya’s most profitable companies. The firm’s operating licence was suspended in July 2019 following tax disputes with the Kenya Revenue Authority, disputes that reportedly involved tens of billions of Kenyan shillings.
The Paybill Transfer
The dossier states that two M-Pesa paybill numbers, 955100 and 955700, together with their associated short codes and USSD access, were transferred to Milestone on October 30, 2020. The transfer was executed despite an active court preservation order that the Kenya Revenue Authority had obtained on August 20, 2020. That order remained in force until December 5, 2020, creating a legal backdrop that should have halted any such movement of assets.
Alleged Irregularities
The dossier raises claims that Pevans was engaged in pending litigation with the Betting Control and Licensing Board (BCLB), the predecessor of the Gambling Regulatory Authority (GRA), Safaricom, and other parties over its licence dispute. Second, the transfer allegedly bypassed required clearances from the Communications Authority of Kenya and the Betting Control and Licensing Board, which are normally needed for such changes.
The specific case, filed in the Court of Appeal under number 471 of 2020, listed the Betting Control and Licensing Board, the predecessor of the Gambling Regulatory Authority, Safaricom and other respondents, reflecting the broader dispute over the original licence.
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Third, the speed of the operation raised concerns. Safaricom activated the pay-bills within a single day, a timeline that contrasted sharply with the two-week standard turnaround reported for other operators. Fourth, a comparable request made by Milestone to Airtel Kenya was refused, with Airtel citing the same legal requirements that the report says were ignored in the Safaricom transaction.
A letter from Wilson Karungaru, the former director of Milestone, expresses worry that funds were being disbursed to unknown entities, thereby raising potential money-laundering concerns.
The License Question
The document further alleges that Milestone operated under a Betting Control and Licensing Board licence numbered 000205 during the 2021/2022 period. That licence, however, had originally been issued to Hardwick Limited, which trades under the name Bollywood Casino. The mismatch suggests that Milestone may have been using a licence that did not belong to it.
A BCLB correspondence dated 31 July 2022 clarified that licence number 000205 had been issued to Hardwick Limited, which operates under the trade name Bollywood Casino, confirming that Milestone was not the holder of that licence during the 2021/2022 period.
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