{Rwanda National Police (RNP) has arrested two people suspected of being part of a cybercrime ring that conducted a sophisticated scheme through which they illegally obtained Rwf495 million from Tigo Rwanda.}
The suspects are Muhire Mwungura and Emmanuel Turamye – however, the mastermind only identified as Elvis, who was an employee of Tigo, is still at large and investigations are ongoing to locate his whereabouts, Police said.
Chief Superintendent Celestin Twahirwa, Police spokesperson, said the suspects were apprehended after notification from Tigo and intense investigations that linked them to cybercrime.
“The two arrested suspects are termed as ‘Super Agents for the Tigo Cash platform.’ Investigations show that they connived with a Tigo’s employee who was in charge of electronic money transfer, using technology, to carry out this fraudulent crime,” CSP Twahirwa said.
“Instead of making payments to the rightful Tigo channels, investigations show that they channeled the money to a wrong channel for their benefit, over a period of twelve months,” he added.
He called upon the public and institutions to provide timely and relevant information whenever there is suspicion of cybercrime, saying that RNP has the capacity and facilities to carry out valuable investigations in the matters, in time.
In order to prevent similar crimes, Tigo acquired support from regional and global experts from its London-based parent company – Millicom, to conduct a full review of its operational financial processes.
“The fraud was orchestrated by our own staff. Over a period of twelve months the group defrauded the company’s account funds evaluated at over Rwf495 million on the Tigo Cash platform,” Allan Mwathi, Head of Mobile Financial Services at Tigo Rwanda, said.
“This fraud only affected Tigo funds. None of the accounts of our Tigo Cash customers or agents is affected by the criminal actions,”
At a press conference, Tongai Maramba, General Manager of Tigo Rwanda reassured their customers on safety of their accounts.
“Thanks to our high level of security they did not access our customer accounts. Tigo maintains rigorous security protocols including safety mechanism such as secret access codes to counter unauthorized transactions on the users’ wallets. Hence, the fraud particularly affected the company’s generated revenues,” he said.
Article 312 of the Penal Code stipulates that a person who fraudulently accesses automated data or processing systems is liable to a prison term between one and three years and a fine of up to Rwf3 million.
Rwanda National Police has a wing dedicated to containing cybercrimes, as well as well equipped and trained officers who investigate crimes such as cyber terrorism, money laundering and defrauding, hacking, among others.
In February this year, 31 Interpol Officers from 22 countries completed a four-day training in cyber crime investigation at Rwanda National Police (RNP) Head Quarters’ Ethics Centre, in Kacyiru.
Leave a Reply