This archive report was first published on 18 September 2019.
On June 25th, a 'wealth and business' conference was set to take place at Raddison Blu Hotel & Convention Centre in Kigali, Rwanda, but it never happened. Instead, hundreds of Rwandans were left out of pocket after being deceived by a Kenyan man.
Charles Kinuthia, the organizer of the conference, was arrested and later sentenced to 2 years in prison and fined $3,254 by a Kigali court. He was found guilty of fraud after deceiving hundreds of Rwandans into attending the event.
According to the court, Kinuthia sent messages inviting people to attend the conference, but the messages were confusing and were used as a tactic to get money from them. He solicited $4,339 and $680 from participants through mobile money, online banking, and cash at the entry of the conference venue.
Kinuthia claimed that attendants were set to receive a value bonus of resources worth $197, not cash, but the court found him guilty of fraud. His co-accused, Vivian Khisa Mukhwana and Rachel Matipei from Kenya and Rwandan Mohamed Niyonkuru, were acquitted due to insufficient evidence.
