The Rwanda Investigation Bureau (RIB), on Wednesday, January 1, refuted an injustice claim petition to President Paul Kagame, regarding a tech-based fraud case about slightly over $10 million allegedly swindled from I&M Bank Rwanda by its users. The petitioner, who uses the pseudonym Wabimenya Ute and the username @Imanirakomeye on X, argued that injustice was done to more than 150 people, including Rwandans and foreigners, “by some of the people in high leadership and security positions of our country,” and appealed to the President for help. ALSO READ: I&M Bank reassures clients amid $10 million fraud case The case is still in the courts of law. The petitioner claimed in a post on X, on December 31, that the unnamed leaders had used their authority to influence judicial processes in oder to enrich themselves. On the nature of the problem, the person said that I&M Bank Rwanda launched a Mastercard Prepaid Multicurrency, which was publicised and people bought and utilised it in accordance with the bank’s terms and conditions to exchange Rwandan francs for different foreign currencies at better rates than those offered by conventional foreign exchange service providers. The petitioner claimed that the users of the bank service did not commit any system compromise, and added that that many of the users were illegally detained. In response, the investigations body posted a post on its X page, refuting the injustice claim alleged by the petitioner. In January 2023, RIB stated, it received a case filed by I&M Bank about fraud committed using transaction cards by Mastercard based on the gap that was identified in foreign currency exchange system. Turifuza kunyomoza ibyo @Imanirakomeye yanditse asaba Nyakubahwa Perezida wa Repubulika kurenganura abantu abeshya ko barenganyijwe n'Urwego rw'Ubugenzacyaha. Muri Mutarama 2023, RIB yakiriye ikirego cya @imbankrw ku bujura bwakoreshwaga amakarita ya Mastercard bushingiye ku... https://t.co/v3kNCdd3Va — Rwanda Investigation Bureau (@RIB_Rw) January 1, 2025 RIB said that investigation revealed that the card users had deceived other people by asking them to share their identity cards on the promise of helping them find jobs. Instead, the card holders used the identity cards to get many as many Prepaid cards, which they used to steal the bank based on the gap that existed then, RIB stated, adding that they defrauded slightly more than $10 million from it. In May 2023, information from I&M Bank indicated that its management discovered incidents of fraudulent withdrawals through customer wallets amounting to slightly more than $10 million during the period from November 1, 2022 to January 17, 2023. The bank added that the fraudulent transactions were done via the Mastercard Platinum Multicurrency Prepaid Card, and investigations had been ongoing with the competent authorities in Rwanda. Current progress According to RIB, 148 suspects in the case were prosecuted, and more than Rwf2 billion has been recovered, as well as other properties including houses and plots of land that had been bought using money from the fraud. Nyarugenge Intermediate Court convicted 94 people of theft and money laundering, and they were handed different penalties, it added. “Investigation continues so that others who participated in this fraud using Mastercard Prepaid cards are punished in compliance with legal provisions,” RIB stated, adding that the petitioner who used a pseudonym was suspected to be among the people who are still at large are yet to be brought to justice.
