On Tuesday, June 14, the Rwanda Investigation Bureau (RIB) received a case in which Jeanne d’Arc Butera, a.k.a Knowless, a renowned female musician, is being accused of pyramid scheme-related crimes.

According to the case, as one of the leaders of the "Happy Family,” a pyramid scheme that was made up of more than 150 people overall, Butera defaulted payment of Rwf1,350,000 to one of the members.

Details of when the scheme was established are still scanty, but it is understood that it resolved operations in May 2021, and a decision was taken to refund each of the members, depending on how much they had invested into it.

However, one of the members was never paid her Rwf1,350,000, and as a result, she has dragged Knowless to RIB, saying the latter has intentionally refused to pay and keeps ignoring the messages that remind her about the debt.

It is alleged that other group members tried to contact the musician asking her to pay their colleague, but she did not answer them, and this made them join their counterpart in filing a case against Butera.

The case was filed as a group of about six people.

RIB, through their Spokesperson Thierry Murangira, confirmed that they received the case against Knowless.

"Yes, we received her case yesterday, and it is set to undergo normal judicial procedures,” he said.

According to sources, Knowless had earned over Rwf8 million from this pyramid scheme.