Rwandan Refugee Who Became Naturalized Citizen Is Convicted For Naturalization Fraud

A man who immigrated to the United States from Rwanda as a refugee in 1998, who was charged with having obtained his citizenship by fraud, was convicted by a jury today after a four-day trial in federal court in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.         

Ken Ngombwa, 56, from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, was convicted of one count of unlawfully procuring or attempting to procure naturalization or citizenship; one count of procuring citizenship to which he was not entitled; one count of conspiracy to unlawfully procure citizenship; and one count of making a materially false statement to agents of the Department of Homeland Security.  

The evidence at trial showed Ngombwa knowingly made several material false statements to procure entry into the United States as a refugee from Rwanda in 1998.  Notably, Ngombwa falsely claimed to be the brother of Faustin Twagiramungu, a former Prime Minister of Rwanda, who lives in exile in Belgium. 

The case was referred to the Department of Homeland Security in 2011 by the Prosecutor General of Rwanda.

Ngombwa was ordered detained without bond following return of the verdict today.  A detention hearing before Chief United States District Court Judge Linda R. Reade has been set for Wednesday, January 20, 2016, at 1:30 p.m. in federal court in Cedar Rapids.

A sentencing date will be set after a presentence report is prepared. 

If convicted on all counts, Ngombwa faces a possible maximum sentence of 30 years’ imprisonment, a $1,000,000 fine, $400 in special assessments, and 12 years of supervised release following any imprisonment.­  Ngombwa also faces loss of his citizenship in the United States.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Richard L. Murphy and Ravi Narayan, and was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations.

Court file information is available at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl.  The case file number is 14-CR-00123.