Davis Manzi, a Rwandan man accused of defrauding over 600 people of $10 million (approximately Rwf13 billion), has spoken out in defence of his business.

Manzi, the founder of Billion Traders FX, an online enterprise, allegedly convinced people to give him large sums of money, promising them significant returns from online forex trading.

On Monday, August 26, he appeared before the Gasabo Primary Court, where prosecutors laid out charges against him, including money laundering, fraud, and illicit foreign exchange trading.

What the prosecutors say

Prosecutors argued that when Manzi launched his operations, he only possessed a license from the Rwanda Development Board (RDB), which permitted him to engage in regular foreign exchange activities—not online forex trading.

"He didn't get authorisation from BNR [National Bank of Rwanda] and CMA [Capital Market Authority], which are the authorities in charge of the type of business he was doing,” Prosecutors said.

They added that he "promised clients very high and unrealistic promises of profit,” where for example, he told potential investors that if they invested $50,000 in his company, they would get a 10 per cent profit in six months and get their capital back.

Initial information from RIB indicated that at least 500 people had invested up to $10 million in the company whose operations started in 2020.

Manzi speaks out

The suspect told the court that at the time he opened the company, "there was no law governing forex exchange,” and thus when he approached BNR and CMA, they did not give him a license but still told him to work as they continue to study how such businesses operate.

He also insisted that his business license from RDB did not say he was to do normal forex exchange, but it rather says: forex exchange activities, a term which can cover online forex as well.

"In 2020, before I even started operations,” he said "I knocked on BNR and CMA doors asking for authorisation.

"They told me there is no law governing this business at that time, but they told me to operate as they study and learn more about the business. Every after a few months, I would get back to them.”

Manzi told the court that problems started in 2022 when the Capital Market Authority reported him to RIB and his accounts were blocked, a development that led to inability to pay his clients.

He told the court that out of the $10 million that Rwandans invested, he has already refunded more than $7 million and can refund the rest if authorities unlock his accounts.

Manzi also responded to the prosecutors’ claims that the profits he promised were not unrealistic. He argued that forex trading can make such money.

The businessman who was first arrested on July 30, first appeared before the court on August 19, when his trial was postponed after his defence said they were not ready for trial.

The prosecutors asked the court to remand him as further investigations are done, as they argued that he is a flight risk due to the money he owes many Rwandans.

However, the defendant argued that releasing him on bail would be the right option since it gives him opportunity to embark on processes of repaying his clients.

He insisted that he is not a flight risk because he has always been responsive to RIB whenever the investigators summoned him, and has spent seven months at his home in the past when RIB asked him not to move.

The bail ruling is scheduled for Wednesday, August 28.