A 65-year-old Ohio resident, Vincent Nzigiyimfura, has been arrested for allegedly concealing his role in the 1994 Rwandan genocide by lying on U.S. immigration forms.

 

Nzigiyimfura, also known as Vincent Mfura, was taken into custody in Dayton on June 12 following his indictment by a federal grand jury on one count of visa fraud and two counts of attempted naturalization fraud, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

 

Federal prosecutors allege that Nzigiyimfura was deeply involved in the mass killings of Tutsis in Rwanda, acting as a key organizer of violence while posing as a businessman and butcher. He is accused of directing massacres, supplying weapons to Hutu militias, and setting up roadblocks in Rwanda’s Southern Province to trap and kill fleeing Tutsis.

 

The DOJ further claims that Nzigiyimfura devised tactics to deceive Tutsis in hiding by spreading false information that the violence had ended—only to lure them out and have them killed.

 

After the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) seized control in July 1994, effectively ending the genocide that claimed between 500,000 and 800,000 lives, Nzigiyimfura fled to Malawi. In 2008, he applied for a U.S. immigrant visa, allegedly submitting false information to portray himself as a victim who fled the genocide. He was granted entry to the U.S. in 2009.

 

In 2014, he attempted to become a U.S. citizen by allegedly reaffirming false information during a naturalization interview. Although citizenship was not granted, he later renewed his green card in 2018, which officials say was fraudulently obtained, and used it to acquire an Ohio driver’s license.

 

The case is being investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), with support from the Human Rights Violators and War Crimes Center.

 

“Those who committed atrocities in foreign lands cannot hide in Ohio or anywhere else in the United States,” said Acting Special Agent in Charge Jared Murphey of HSI Detroit. “This arrest is a step toward justice for the victims of genocide.”

 

If convicted, Nzigiyimfura could face up to 30 years in federal prison.