BCR manager arrested over $350,000 theft scandal

WESTERN PROVINCE RUSIZI—A Rwanda Bank of Commerce (BCR) manager has been arrested for allegedly stealing $350,000 in Kamembe. Francis Ngarambe, the BCR manager in both Rusizi and Nyamasheke Districts, was arrested recently when he went to Kamembe police station to report that the money had been stolen from his vehicle. The $350,000 was brought by an employee of BCR from Kigali in a Rwanda Air plane at midday on Thursday, who handed it over to Ngarambe at Kamembe Airstrip shortly after the airplane’s arrival. After receiving the money, Ngarambe went to Burundi via Bugarama border instead of taking the money to the bank. He went in the company of a Police traffic officer in Rusizi called Jean Nepo Rutahana, Emmanuel Hitayezu, the Police Commander in Bugarama sector, and another policeman in charge of Immigration and Emigration at Bugarama frontier. They were there for a while before returning to Rwanda.From Burundi the group proceeded to Muganza near Cement factory (CIMERWA) where they went to a bar. On their way back from Muganza to Kamembe, their vehicle went off the road and hit a tree; and it was shortly after that accident that Ngarambe told his colleagues that he had lost $350, 000 which he had in his pockets, accusing them of the loss. He immediately rushed to Kamembe police post to report the matter, where he was promptly arrested. According to security authorities, Ngarambe went to pick the money at the airport without any security guards, which was highly unusual. The Kamembe airstrip head of operations, Leo Nkurunziza, and all Ngarambe’s partners in the Burundi unexplained trip have since been arrested. The BRC Director in charge of BCR branches yesterday visited the area and held a meeting with all BCR staff in the district where they discussed various issues regarding the shocking scandal. “I am very surprised to see such a gentleman behaving like that. I believe his mission was pre-planned. How could he go to pick such a huge sum of money without any security guard, after which he immediately goes to Burundi without first depositing the money at the bank?” Rusizi District Police Commander Superintendent Francis Muheto wondered. Ends