An Ohio man who is suspected of orchestrating mass killings during the 1994 genocide in Rwanda has been arrested for allegedly lying on his US immigration papers to conceal his heinous crimes.
Vincent Nzigiyimfura, 65, was nabbed in Dayton on June 12 after he was indicted by a federal grand jury on one count of visa fraud and two counts of attempted naturalization fraud, according to the US Department of Justice.
“As alleged, Vincent Nzigiumfura directed and encouraged murders during the genocide in Rwanda and then lied to US authorities to start a new life in this country,” The head of the Department of Justice’s Criminal Division, Matthew Galeotti, said.
“The United States is not a safe haven for human rights violators. Those, like the defendant, who commit immigration fraud to hide their violent pasts will be charged and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
Nzigiyimfura, also known as Vincent Mfura, is accused of playing a major role during the bloody genocide against the Tutsis in Rwanda, perpetrated by the Hutus between April and July 1994 while working as a businessman and butcher.
Officials alleged Nzigiyimfura helped direct and organize the killing of Tutsis while providing the Hutus with weapons and transportation to commit their mass murders.
Nzigiyimfura allegedly organized roadblocks in the mountainous terrain of Rwanda’s Southern Province to trap fleeing Tutsis to be killed.
He also allegedly “devised a scheme to trick Tutsis in hiding to believe that the killings had stopped, only to have them rounded up and murdered,” according to the DOJ.
When the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) took military control of the country in mid-July 1994, ending the three-month-long bloody genocide, in which an estimated 500,000 to 800,000 ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus were killed, Nzigiyimfura fled to Malawi.
Around 2008, the alleged orchestrator of mass murderers submitted applications for an immigrant visa to the US, where officials claim he falsified documents to portray himself as a victim who “left Rwanda in 1994 due to the Genocide.”
Nzigiyimfura was made aware he could be subject to criminal prosecution for lying on his application, but reassured a US Consular Officer of his story and was granted a visa to enter the US in 2009.
Later in 2014, Nzigiyimfura allegedly doubled down on his alleged lie to become a US citizen.
During an interview with a US Citizenship and Immigration Services officer that November, he “verbally reaffirmed these false statements, as well as others,” according to the DOJ.
However, he was not granted citizenship.
The accused human rights violator applied and submitted supporting documentation to renew his expiring green card in 2018. A year later, he was issued a “fraudulently” obtained green card good for another 10 years.
He later used that green card to apply for an Ohio driver’s license, according to officials.
His case has been investigated by the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations Cincinnati field office with assistance from the Human Rights Violators and War Crimes Center.
“ICE HSI is committed to pursuing justice for victims of genocide by ensuring that those who committed atrocities in foreign lands cannot hide in Ohio or any other community in the United States,” Acting ICE Homeland Security Investigations Detroit Special Agent in Charge Jared Murphey said in a press release.
“No one wants a war criminal as their neighbor and these allegations paint a grim picture of the horror Nzigiyimfura inflicted on the Tutsi people. His indictment and arrest is a step toward justice for those victims.”
Nzigiyimfura faces 30 years in federal prison if convicted.
