Rwandan Entrepreneur In Court Over Alleged $10 Mn Fraud

Kigali: A Rwandan entrepreneur appeared in court on Monday accused of defrauding more than 500 people to the tune of $10 million in an online Forex trading scheme.

Davis Manzi, 38, is accused of persuading people to invest in his online business Billion Traders FX but failing to pay them the promised dividends.

He was formally arrested on July 30 and has been charged with fraud, money laundering and illegal foreign exchange trading in the high-profile case.

Prosecutors have called for Manzi, who had been under house arrest for seven months, to be held in custody, saying he was a flight risk because of the gravity of the charges, but also faced threats to his life.

"We fear that if he is released, he can escape the country and access his foreign bank accounts," the prosecutor told the court in Kigali.

"He also faces a danger to his life because of all the people he owes money who may want to retaliate."

Manzi has requested bail, telling the court if he was free, he could organise payments to his alleged victims.

"This case is all about money and keeping me in detention will not help me to find that money," said Manzi, who set up Billion Traders FX with his wife in 2020.

"I request to be released so that I can process things and pay these people," Manzi said. "I am a man of integrity."

The judge said he will make a ruling on the bail application on Wednesday. The case has drawn significant attention in Rwanda.

Last week, a group of people who say they were swindled by Manzi wrote an open letter to President Paul Kagame asking for his intervention.

"The victims of this scheme are not only fearful of losing their hard-earned investments, but also deeply concerned about the potential misuse of these funds in illegal activities," the letter said.

MENAFN26082024000063011010ID1108602738