Tom Transfers Company- a dealer in apartments and car rentals in Rwanda and other countries – which is being sued for allegedly defrauding clients of Rwf2 billion cars- has closed office amid ongoing investigations over alleged crimes, The New Times has learnt.
Several people told The New Times that they gave money to the company to import cars for them, but since May last year, they have neither received their cars nor been reimbursed.
Some had ordered cars for immediate use in their daily life, while others would order for cars and the company would remain with them to rent them out and give a particular fee.
"We are still in a dilemma. We heard that RIB is carrying out investigations but we do not know what will follow. The company owner escaped sometime back.
He is not in Rwanda and the company also closed its offices. Some victims went to court and after winning, the bailiffs did not manage to get the company’s properties for auctioning,” one victim told The New Times.
A representative of another group of victims is suing Tom Transfers Company and said that they tried to seek an amicable solution but in vain.
"We talked to the company’s owner online seeking an amicable solution but failed. From December we gave him a three-month deadline but he wanted over six months in addition to the other six months that had elapsed without giving us our properties,” he said.
Another group of 65 people took the case to commercial court and are waiting for a trial date.
Over 200 people are suing the company. The victims have requested government authorities to fast-track the investigations.
"The company didn’t request liquidating the business if it incurred losses. This means they had money. We need our money. More victims are joining our team to file the case but some of them are suing the company on their own. Our group of 65 victims is suing the company for about Rwf1 billion,” he said.
Willy Ernest Uwimana, who is in-charge of Administration and Finance at Tom Transfer Company, confirmed to The New Times that they have closed the offices.
"Some clients went to court while others wanted mediation for amicable settlement of the disputes. RIB is also carrying out investigations since the company was sued for defrauding. So we chose to close the office until the results from the ongoing investigations are disclosed. In addition, the company’s owner-Thomas Munyaneza- is not in the country,” he said.
When asked whether the case has been taken to prosecution, Faustin Nkusi, the Spokesperson of NPP referred this journalist to Rwanda Investigation Bureau (RIB).
Thierry Murangira, the spokesperson for Rwanda Investigation Bureau (RIB) was not available on his known mobile telephone at the time of publication.
However, he told local media last month that the investigations were still going on.
"Tom Transfers is among many companies that are defrauding people in different ways. Since July last year, RIB has received over 120 cases suing Tom Transfers Company. The owner has escaped,” he said.
He added that the company is being sued for four crimes, which are; fraud, forgery, breach of trust, and bounced cheques.