The intermediate court of Gasabo has rejected the appeal of Davis Manzi, the man accused of defrauding over 600 people of $10 million (approximately Rwf13 billion), upholding his 30-day remand.
The 38-year-old businessman allegedly convinced many people to invest in his online business, Billion Traders FX, but failed to deliver the promised returns
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In August, the primary court of Gasabo ordered his detention. He appealed.
The accused faces multiple charges, including money laundering, fraud, and illegal foreign exchange trading.
Billion Traders FX launched its operations in 2020. Prosecutors argue that at that time, Manzi only had a license from Rwanda Development Board (RDB) which only allowed him to engage in regular foreign exchange activities, not online forex trading. With this, they claim, he carried out online forex trading illegally.
They also argue 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 also get their capital back.
His appeal hearing took place on Thursday, October 17, where, along with his lawyer, he told court that they were unsatisfied with the pre-trial detention decision taken by the primary court, because it did not consider key factors.
The defendant insisted that the RDB certificate he acquired at the beginning of his business was not limited to regular forex exchange, but allowed him to engage in more activities related to forex, though at that time, the country did not have a law governing such online forex trading.
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He also argued that there is no criminal element in his case. Court heard that he had refunded more than 70 percent of the clients’ money before he was arrested, which shows that he has no intentions of breaching the agreements he had with them.
He reiterated that his detention only complicates the situation for the clients because it makes him unable to repay them, since their money is being held by an Australian company with which he was partnering.
Without divulging much details, his lawyer, Stephen Zawadi, said some of Manzi’s clients have made an online petition calling for his release because they see that as the clear way of having their money back.
Issuing the verdict of the appeal trial on Thursday, the presiding judge said that after examining the case, court found that the defendant’s appeal did not have enough ground to lead to a change of the first instance decision.
During the appeal hearing on October 17, the prosecutors had, among other arguments, said that Manzi’s claim that his RDB certificate allowed him to carry out business beyond regular forex exchange is not true.
They said online forex trading requires more authorisation from institutions including Capital Markets Authority (CMA) and the National Bank of Rwanda, which Manzi did not seek.