LI Beekeeper Involved In 'Heinous Acts' During Rwandan Genocide: DOJ

BRIDGEHAMPTON, NY —An indictment was unsealed Thursday charging a Bridgehampton man with immigration fraud after he concealed his role as a perpetrator in the Rwandan genocide, federal officials said.

He did not disclose his role in the violence, including killings and rapes, to U.S. immigration authorities, the Department of Justice said.

An indictment was unsealed at the federal courthouse in Central Islip, charging Faustin Nsabumukunzi, 65, with visa fraud and attempted naturalization fraud for lying on his applications for a green card and for United States citizenship by concealing his role as a local leader and perpetrator of violence during the Rwandan genocide in 1994, federal officials said.

Nsabumukunzi pleaded not guilty and was released on a $250,000 bond — with home detention and GPS location monitoring— but he will be allowed to continue working in his role as a gardener for an individual on Long Island, the DOJ said. He said that he is a beekeeper, officials added.

Nsabumukunzi was arrested Thursday morning on Long Island and was scheduled to be arraigned Thursday afternoon before United States District Judge Joanna Seybert, officials said.

Nsabumukunzi was represented by Evan Sugar of the Long Island Federal Defenders Office, who could not immediately be reached for comment.

John J. Durham, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York; Matthew R. Galeotti, head of the Justice Department’s criminal division; and Darren B. McCormack, Acting Special Agent in Charge, Homeland Security Investigations, New York (HSI New York), announced the arrest and charges.

As set forth in court filings, Nsabumukunzi served as a local leader with the title of "sector councilor" in Rwanda in 1994 when the genocide began, officials said. Between April 1994 and July 1994, members of the majority Hutu population persecuted the minority Tutsis, committing acts of violence, including murder, rape, and sexual violence, Durham said.

An estimated 800,000 ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus were killed during the three-month genocide, the DOJ said.

As alleged in the indictment, Nsabumukunzi used his leadership position as sector councilor to oversee the violence and killings of Tutsis in his local sector of Kibirizi and directed groups of armed Hutus to kill Tutsis, the DOJ said. He set up roadblocks during the genocide to detain and kill Tutsis and participated in killings and violence, federal officials said.

For example, Nsabumukunzi ordered a group of armed Hutus to locations where Tutsis were sheltering, and the Hutus killed them, the DOJ said. Nsabumukunzi also facilitated the rape of Tutsi women by verbally encouraging Hutu men to do so, the DOJ said. According to court filings, Nsabumukunzi has been convicted of genocide in absentia by a Rwandan court, federal officials said.

As further alleged, Nsabumukunzi applied for refugee resettlement in the United States in August 2003, applied for and received a green card in November 2007, and later submitted applications for naturalization in 2009 and 2015, the DOJ said. Nsabumukunzi lied to United States immigration officials to gain admission to the United States as a refugee, by falsely denying in the applications under penalty of perjury that he ever engaged in genocide, federal officials said.

He repeated those lies in his subsequent applications for a green card and for naturalization, the DOJ said. As a result of his ongoing efforts to conceal his actions during the genocide, Nsabumukunzi has been able to live and work in the United States since 2003, the DOJ said.

"As alleged, Nsabumukunzi repeatedly lied to conceal his involvement in the horrific Rwandan genocide while seeking to become a lawful permanent resident and citizen of the United States," Durham said. "For over two decades, he got away with those lies and lived in the United States with an undeserved clean slate, a luxury that his victims will never have, but thanks to the tenacious efforts of our investigators and prosecutors, the defendant finally will be held accountable for his brutal actions."

Durham expressed his appreciation to the United States Interagency Human Rights Violators & War Crimes Center, the Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs, the Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, and the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Office of the Principal Legal Advisor for their work on the case.

"As alleged, the defendant participated in the commission of heinous acts of violence abroad and then lied his way into a green card and tried to obtain U.S. citizenship," Galeotti said. "No matter how much time has passed, the Department of Justice will find and prosecute individuals who committed atrocities in their home countries and covered them up to gain entry and seek citizenship in the United States."

"This defendant has been living in the United States for decades, hiding his alleged horrific conduct, human rights violations, and his role in these senseless atrocities against innocent Tutsis," McCormack said. "The depraved conduct of which the defendant is accused represent the worst of humanity. As demonstrated through the tireless work of HSI New York agents, analysts, and task force officers, we will never tolerate the safe-harboring of individuals linked to such unimaginable crimes."