A man in Bugesera District identified as Augustin Ncamihigo, has been arrested in connection with creating a ghost firm through which he was defrauding people.

Ncamihigo, a resident of Nyamata Sector, was apprehended on May 18 after it emerged that he had defrauded 25 people of over Rwf1.5 million.

The arrest followed several complaints filed by some victims, who claimed that Ncamihigo was running a shoddy guarantee fund and had conned them of their money that he never returned.

The Eastern Region Police spokesperson, Inspector of Police (IP) Emmanuel Kayigi said, "Initially, Ncamihigo told residents that there is a new Christian guarantee fund called Evangelical and Development Fund (EDF) that boosts people’s access to finance.”

"He lured them into saving at least Rwf10, 000 deposited on a specified bank account of the firm, which in real sense, never existed, which was a prerequisite to access the loan after three months. However, after a while, he changed the trick and asked his followers to be delivering cash to him and he would give them forged receipts as proof of payment,” IP Kayigi added.

"After three months, the 25 victims realized their hope for a loan from EDF had vanished as Ncamihigo could come up with different excuses; they also learnt that actually Ncamihigo was running a scam, that’s when they filed the case with the police.”

"Preliminary investigations indicate that the firm never existed and all he was doing was conning people. So far, we have identified 25 people, whom he cheated, but investigations are still ongoing to determine the exact number of victims and the amount of money involved,” he said.

"People should as well know that anyone who wants a loan must go through an authentic and known financial institution not through individuals,” said IP Kayigi.

Under article 318 of the penal code, anyone who obtains the property of another person by fraud or by using false names or qualities, to give rise to hope or fear of harm and obtains a part or whole of a fortune shall be liable to a term of imprisonment of three to five years and a fine of between Rwf3 million to Rwf5 million.

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