Rwanda Investigation Bureau (RIB) informed the public that there is a new form of fraud, where a group of people sell properties, mainly land and houses, that don’t belong to them in disguise, hard to unmask.
The investigations body said this as they paraded five suspects who have been allegedly operating criminal entreprise to defraud people through property acquisition.
"The five people take different roles, where one becomes the ‘owner’ of the house, another the dealer, the third one becomes a witness, and the other one becomes relative to the ‘so called’ owner to make it look like a normal transaction,” said Thierry Murangira, the Spokesperson for RIB.
"The last one comes in as another buyer to show the genuine one (con victim) that the property is in high demand to an extent of getting them pay a down payment before the paperwork is processed.”
At Metropolean Police Remera, RIB paraded five people alleged of selling the house which doesn't belong to them.
Ange Uwineza and her family wanted to buy a house, and a family friend known as William Mutijima, showed up with the idea of guiding them to the house they could buy at a low price.
Ange Uwineza, the victim
She explained that they trusted him and began the process, where he connected them with another person who called himself the owner of a house that was on sale. They visited the house thrice and agreed on Rwf22.5 million as the final price.
"Frankly, the house was worth more than that but we didn’t make it a big deal because the ‘so called owner’ told us that he wanted money urgently to help him take his sick child to India for treatment,” she added.
"That is why we agreed to pay him the advance payment in cash, which we did urgently because there was someone else who seemed to have interest in buying the house, though we later found out he was one of them.”
Forged land title, which they used to trick Uwineza
She said they had also ‘forged’ a land title which was under the name of Emmanuel Habanabashaka, who claimed to be the owner, and then they signed the sale agreement after she paid Rwf14.5 million in cash, agreeing to pay the rest once the transfer of land title is completed.
To establish she had been conned, Uwineza visited the house alone and found there the genuine owner, who showed her the original land title.
Once shown the original title, she was able to see the flows in the fake title she had and immediately informed RIB.
Alphonse Nsengiyumva, who acted as the owner of the house under the names of Emmanuel Habanabashaka, said that he was recruited by Mutijima, whom he saod was the master planner.
He said they forged the land title, and used it to negotiate with the buyer under the guidance of Mutijima.
Nsengiyumva said he was arrested as he came to collect the remaining money.
"She called me to meet her at Gisimenti, when I reached there, RIB was waiting for me, I refunded some money I was left with and I informed them of others whereabouts,” he added.
Interestingly, all the five have been charged with similar crimes before, four of them had actually been sentenced and completed their sentences, Murangira said.
He advised the general public to be vigilant when buying any property, mainly land or house, because there are many tricks hard that are rising, hard to uncover.
"They don’t pick any house randomly; they always zero in on one that is on sale.”
"Before buying any property, you have to dig deeper and get all information necessary, if it is a bank mortgage, ask local leaders if the person you are talking to is the real owner, also consult the officials to make sure that the land title is not forged.
Also, don’t succumb to pressure; take your time, investigate before making the decision, and make sure that you pay them using bank transfer, because they tell you to pay them in cash so that they can’t be traced.”
All the five are being investigated over four crimes. Upon conviction they are liable to imprisonment for a term from two years to ten years and a fine of over Rwf3 million.