Police in Nyarugenge District are holding a 29-year old man, who has been on the run on suspicion of conning millions of money from unsuspecting members of the public.

The suspect was arrested on Monday in one of the local commercial banks where he was attempting to defraud another person, Senior Supt. Emmanuel Hitayezu, the Police spokesperson for the City of Kigali, said.

"Two suspected fraudsters entered the bank targeting a man, who was going to deposit money,” Hitayezu said.

"They tried to con him using dollar notes; they used two bills of $100 to cover other 297 notes in the denominations of US$1. They made it look like all the notes were in the denominations of $100 but in the process the would-be victim got suspicious and the conmen tried to flee, but one was apprehended by the security personnel at the bank although his accomplice managed to escape,” the spokesperson explained.

"We have since established that the one in custody is the same suspect behind a similar fraud case in which he fleeced another person of Rwf4 million, on May 19”.

How they con people

These conmen normally stand near or inside financial institutions or forex bureaus to identify their target. One of them approaches the target and, in most cases, feigns ignorance about dollar notes or pretends to look for someone to help them exchange the notes.

In most cases, they have bundles of dollars. The bundle either contains fake notes inside covered with a genuine note of $100 on either side; or two genuine notes on either sides covering notes of US$1.

"They try to make you believe that the bundle contains notes in the denominations of $100, and they will varnish thereafter.”

Hitayezu appealed to the business community to be vigilant and to always deal with established institutions rather than trying to take shortcuts, where they end up becoming victims of fraud.

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