Two arrested for forgery

Police have arrested two men for allegedly counterfeiting hundreds of documents used in the country. Fils Safari Mutabazi and Jean Hitimana, were arrested Monday at ‘Audio Visual Casanova Studio’ in Giporoso, Remera, the place said to be their hub as they carry out their activities.

Wednesday, October 20, 2010
L-R Hitimana and Mutabazi displaying some of the counterfeit transcripts at CID headquarters yesterday (Photo; B. Asiimwe)

Police have arrested two men for allegedly counterfeiting hundreds of documents used in the country.

Fils Safari Mutabazi and Jean Hitimana, were arrested Monday at ‘Audio Visual Casanova Studio’ in Giporoso, Remera, the place said to be their hub as they carry out their activities.

Police are also hunting for Olivier Muberuka, said to be the ring leader of the group. Mutabazi, who is on the run, is an employee at Audio Visual Casanova Studio while the other two are former employees at the studio.

The Police also seized about 114 documents believed to have been forged by the group. Among the seized counterfeited documents are transcripts of the National University of Rwanda (NUR), Kigali Institute of Science and Technology (KIST), Independent University of Kigali (ULK) and Kigali Institute of Education (KIE).

Others are construction permits, driving licenses, Gacaca documents given to those acquitted, Genocide survivors’ notifications, birth certificates, stamps, police documents and movie trading licences among others.
According to police, the group could have issued many other forged documents.

Police Spokesperson, Supt. Eric Kayiranga warned all those involved in the crime, saying that they will be caught.
"We got the information about these people and their acts from the public. We are now following up the matter and all those involved in this case will be brought to justice,” Kayiranga said.

He said that investigations are ongoing to also see if those who acquired counterfeited transcripts used them to acquire jobs.

"Whoever is involved in this case will be brought to justice, including those who bought the forged documents,” he said.

Counterfeit is a crime punishable by a jail sentence ranging from five to ten years.

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