In 2012, Eliphase Karara was approached by Nathan Lloyd Ndung’u — the Kenyan — American businessman who owned the now defunct DN International, to supply him with construction materials worth more than Rwf7 million. He had to take a bank loan to be able to handle the deal.
When Karara sent his employees to ask why the supplies’ payment was taking longer than agreed, they would return with the news "there is no one there.” That is when he learnt that he had been scammed.
A decade later, on January 31, his customer was arrested in Nairobi, Kenya’s capital over a fraud case he faces in Rwanda, in which Karara and more than 70 others were victims and had launched a lawsuit against him.
"It was such great news because even after 10 years, people can still get justice. There is hope that he will be held responsible for all the damage he has caused and we shall get our money back,” Karara said in a phone interview.
In 2010, Lloyd’s DN International embarked on a project that would see the firm complete the construction of over 50 residential housing units valued at Rwf75 million each.
The new homeowners, some of whom had made prior down payments, were promised to have their houses by the end of that year. But the project was never completed, and Lloyd fled the country. Even his suppliers and contractors whose invoices were pending were left hanging.
The financier of the project, KCB Bank Rwanda, seized the incomplete estate in an effort to recover a loan worth Rwf1.5 billion the developer had taken to fund the estate. An action was conducted in 2015 where the bank sold the land in order to recover the money it had lent to DN International and it bought the property itself.
However, in 2019, the Commercial High Court annulled the action, ruling that KCB was a creditor like the rest. It ordered for the liquidation of DN International’s assets and the creditors were given a 40 per cent compensation in December last year.
Nevertheless, things are not rosy for Lloyd’s victims! A court in Nairobi released him on February 7, on a bond of Kshs1 million (around Rwf8.7 million), and he petitioned his extradition request by the Rwandan government issued in October 2018.
In the petition, which The New Times has seen, Lloyd prays to the Kenyan High Court that he doesn’t be extradited to Rwanda, and that the court vacates the Interpol’s Red Notice issued against him, among other things. He alleges that the Republic of Rwanda "is misusing the Interpol Red Alert” to harass and intimidate him. "It will use it to have him placed under its custody and thereafter it kills him (Lloyd),” the petition reads.
Francis Bayingana who was the lead petitioner and currently the chairperson of Lloyd’s creditors told The New Times that it is not surprising that their scammer would throw a tantrum.
"He is a scammer after all. People lie about their health to run away from justice, so he will lie about everything,” Bayingana said. He added that his wish is that his extradition is speeded up and that as his creditors, they plan to release a counter petition refuting every "false” claim Lloyd made.
Bayingana himself was a victim of the scheme, as he had made a down payment of Rwf21 million as a house owner, and he says the total credit may be up to Rwf2 billion.
Faustin Nkusi, the spokesperson of the National Public Prosecution Authority (NPPA) told The New Times in a previous interview that they are closely following his extradition case and are in touch with their Kenyan counterparts.
"We have judicial cooperation with Kenya. Under the EAC Prosecutors’ Association, one of our common goals is jointly fighting crime, especially economic crimes, in the region and from this we hope our request for his extradition will be implemented,” Nkusi said.