Rwanda Investigation Bureau (RIB) has warned the public against working with over 10 companies that are allegedly committing white-collar crimes. White-collar crimes refer to financially motivated, nonviolent or non-directly violent crimes committed by individuals, businesses and government professionals. They include wage theft, fraud, bribery, insider trading, labour racketeering, embezzlement, cybercrime, copyright infringement, money laundering, identity theft, forgery and others. The crimes also include Ponzi schemes, a form of fraud that lures investors and pays profits to earlier investors with funds from more recent investors. According to Thierry Murangira, the RIB spokesperson said that white-collar crimes are on the rise and named some of the companies behind. “There is a rising trend of white-collar crimes which are non-violent from violent crimes. People are stealing money and property in different deceitful ways. Recently we received complaints about Tomtranfers company that swindled cars from clients,” he said. Case file of Tomtransfers has been submitted to Prosecution on December 5, 2022, he said. Since July last year, RIB said it has received over 100 cases suing Tom Transfers Company. “This is not the only case of white-collar crimes,” he said, citing a company called Supermarketings Global Ltd that was recently suspended. The company and others were found to often require new members/recruits to pay a fixed amount of money to the scheme’s promoters often guised as a membership fee with the promise to receive a portion of new entrants’ fees. In 2019, RIB arrested the CEO of Supermarketings Global Ltd for involvement in illegal cryptocurrency trade “There is also Cavallon Ltd, BITSEC, and Gold Planning Artificial Intelligence, Binance, Kigali Analytics Trade with Diana Penda Africa, P & A Group represented by a person known as Shema among others that are using many tricks t swindle from people by pledging huge returns. Some include buying crypto currency, buying shares, online forex trading,” Murangira said. Murangira said that most of the companies are registered in RDB but their operations ‘are totally different from the businesses they registered.’ “For instance Cavallon Ltd registered to do advertising activities. They were doing activities that are totally different. People should invest in trusted companies and must be careful before investing. On January 7, seven people filed the complaint to RIB suing three people behind Gold Planning Artificial Intelligence which urges people to invest money in buying robots online saying it makes profits depending on their value. Two were arrested and one is still on the run,” he said. Pyramid schemes National Bank of Rwanda (BNR) has been warning Rwandans against working with unlicensed businesses involved in pyramid schemes. BNR warned against working with 3 Friends System Group Ltd, Onecoin or Kwakoo, among others, whose scams take the form of active pyramid schemes, multiple level marketing or cryptocurrency issuance through fake initial coin offering (cryptoscam).
