A scam in which the government lost $516,397 (about Rwf346.5 million) in tuition fees for Rwandan students in Nigeria has enraged lawmakers so much they have point of pushing for  further investigations.

The parliamentary Public Accounts Committee (PAC), yesterday, put to task officials from Rwanda Education Board (REB) for their role in the loss of funds, mismanagement and the discrepancies highlighted in the 2013/14 Auditor-General’s report.

Among REB’s other faults, the AG’s report highlights a disturbing case where  the $516,397 was defrauded through Internet communications where a fraudster allegedly engaged REB as a representative of a Nigerian varsity and provided bank details different from those officially provided by the institution.

REB made a transfer payment to the bank account of the fraudster instead of transferring the payments to the official account of the university in Nigeria.

"I read the report and I have more information on the matter. Can you explain how this country can afford to simply lose $516,397?” asked PAC deputy chairperson Théoneste Karenzi.

Documents seen by The New Times indicate that the money was the outstanding bill for 14 Rwandan students in the American University of Nigeria, for the 2012/13 and 2013/14 academic years.

Blame game

The scandal has sucked into blame game top officials, including REB Director-General Ismael Janvier Gasana; Desire Gacinya, the acting director for high education students’ loan department; and Rutaha Bagaya, the director of finance and logistics.

But the blame game only served to add salt to open wounds.

Gasana said that, normally, REB sends tuition money to universities with Rwandan students after receiving an official invoice sent by the institution.

In this particular case, when the invoice was received, officials in charge made routine arrangements and requisite paper work was sent to the central bank so that money is wired to the Nigerian university’s account, he said.

When the bank did its part, however, "the money bounced” and the bank informed REB acccordingly.

"The university responded, stating that they were conducting a cleanup of systems and requested us to send the money on another account. We thus contacted BNR and gave them the new account as usual,” Gasana explained.

"We have records of all this. BNR then sent the money again. After sending to the second account, it again bounced and the next day, the bank again informed us and requested us to ‘please check’ the issue. We again contacted the university and they gave us a third account.

"But when we contacted BNR to give them this other account, they told us the transaction actually went through. We asked them, how it was possible yet they had notified us that the second account was not working. They told us that they too didn’t understand how but the money had gone. We then contacted police. This was unusual.”

Money traced to account in Spain

According to Gasana, police tracked and found that the money had been wired to an account in Spain.

The prosecution and the police have since been investigating the case.

But Karenzi pointed out that REB should have been prudent, especially since almost everyone is aware of the level of cyber crime in Nigeria. 

He stressed that for such amounts of money, officials should have the highest level of prudence.

"In today’s world, for such to happen... unless one is a child or does not follow current events. Here, I am talking about a sense of responsibility. I would have first asked the university rector about the initial account’s problems. Couldn’t you use your sixth sense considering how today’s scamers are sophisticated? Did senior management agree on this?” Karenzi queried.

"You all have bank accounts, but do you change numbers every year? Does a reputable university change accounts anyhow? And, since this whole project was initiated by an individual who is a friend of Rwanda at the university, why didn’t you contact them directly and inquire about the change of account numbers”?

Gacinya also drew the fury of the lawmakers when he explained that he had been informed by someone from the university that the regular account was being audited and that was why a second account would suffice.

Grace Rwakarema, an auditor from the Office of Auditor-General, said such an audit does not halt normal account operations.

"Didn’t you have concerns over such a message? Did it fit the logic as far as you were concerned, as an accountant?” retorted MP Theogène Munyangeyo, adding that they could have contacted the Rwandan Embassy in Nigeria before falling into the fraudster’s trap.

Lawmakers stressed that verification should have been done the moment the need for a second account number was mentioned.

The Board chair of REB, Francois Rwambonera, said they were only notified when the money had already disappeared.

At some point during the PAC grilling, Bagaya had no more words to offer when Karenzi asked him: "Wouldn’t you make inquiries, if this was your own money?”

"I sense a level of irresponsibility in these things. This is so absurd. Our country is not so wealthy as to start wasting scarce resources,” Karenzi added.

Bagaya responded, "Honourable, when it is between institutions, it is not the same as when it is between individuals.”

The committee asked the officials to submit all the documents regarding the case for further investigations. PAC also requested the Prosecutor-General’s office to investigate the case thoroughly.

Interpol was also contacted and is investigating the matter.

As part of remedial measures, all tuition fees for Rwandan students abroad now go through the country’s foreign missions, PAC heard.

Rwakarema said with due diligence, the fraud wouldn’t have occurred.

"The first account was in Nigeria where the students and the university are. The second and third accounts were in other countries. One would have questioned why they were required to pay a Nigeria-based university through an account in New York or in Spain,” she said.

The AG’s latest report highlights fraudulent cases involving Rwf499.8 million identified in public entities. Fraudsters abused the internal controls systems to divert public resources for personal gain.