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Kinyarwanda
Two men were arrested in Rubavu District on Saturday, January 16, for allegedly using forged documents and offering a bribe to fraudulently acquire MoMo Pay Sim Cards.
Samuel Nayituriki, 23, who hails from City of Kigali and Jean Paul Ngoga, 30, were arrested for attempting to give a bribe of Frw540, 000 to fraudulently acquire 100 MoMo Pay Sim Cards.
The bribe was being given to an employee of MTN service centre in Gisenyi town.
Chief Inspector of Police (CIP) Bonaventure Twizere Karekezi, the Police spokesperson for the Western region, said that the duo was arrested red-handed as they came to collect the Sim-Cards.
"The service centre called the Police reporting people, who were trying to give a bribe to fraudulently acquire 100 MoMo Pay Sim-Cards and using a forged document indicating that they belong to a hospitality company called Centre d'acueille located in Rubavu," CIP Karekezi said.
He added: "In response, Gisenyi Police station arrested Ngoga and Nayituriki red-handed inside the service centre giving Frw540, 000 to the an MTN employee, whom they had contacted to connive with them in the unlawful act," CIP Karekezi said.
Normally, MoMo Pay Sim Cards are not for sale. They are given freely to people with TIN Number to facilitate businesses in digital transactions especially in this period of the pandemic when digital payment is highly recommended to prevent the spread of the COVID-19.
The bribe was also meant to influence the agent to register the Sim Cards under ghost names.
"We suspect these men wanted to use the Sim Cards in criminal activities but they have been handed over to Rwanda Investigation Bureau at Gisenyi station for further management," the spokesperson said.
He advised anyone with Sim Cards registered for digital financial transactions to use them for the intended purpose warning that using them contrary is illegal and punishable by law.
The spokesperson warned against graft behaviours adding that bribery and corruption in general should not be given room as it facilitates further criminality, affects service delivery or offering illegal services.
What the law says
According to article 4 of the Law on Fighting Against Corruption, any person, who offers, solicits, accepts or receives, by any means, an illegal benefit for himself/herself or another person in order to render or omit a service under his or her mandate, commits an offense.
Upon conviction, the offender is liable to imprisonment for a term of more than five years but not more than seven years, with a fine of three to five times the value of the illegal benefit solicited or received.
Article 276 of the law determining offences and penalties in general, states that “any person who, in any manner, forges or alters documents by forged signature or fingerprint, falsifying documents or signatures or impersonation, forging agreements, its provisions, obligations, or discharged obligations commits an offence.
Any person, who, with fraudulent intention, produces a false written document, causes to write false statements or produces a conflicting declaration, is considered to commit the offence of forgery.
Upon conviction, he/she is liable to imprisonment for a term of not less than five years but not more than seven years and a fine of not less than Frw3 million and not more than Frw5 million or only one of these penalties.”
The penalty also applies to any person, who knowingly makes use of a forged document in any way.
