A 65-year-old beekeeper residing in Bridgehampton, Long Island, Faustin Nsabumukunzi, has been arrested and charged with concealing his alleged involvement in the 1994 Rwandan genocide while applying for a United States green card and later, citizenship.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Eastern District of New York, Nsabumukunzi faces charges of visa fraud and attempted naturalization fraud for allegedly providing false information on official immigration documents.
The indictment, originally filed on April 22, was unsealed on April 24 in Central Islip, Long Island.
Although he settled into a quiet life in the U.S. as a gardener and beekeeper, prosecutors now claim Nsabumukunzi played a sinister role in Rwanda three decades ago.
He reportedly held the position of “Sector Councilor” in Kibirizi, part of the Nyaruhengeri commune in Butare Prefecture, southern Rwanda, at the start of the genocide in April 1994.
The genocide, described by the Strategic Studies Institute as one of the “most horrific atrocities in modern history,” erupted following the assassination of President Juvénal Habyarimana.
The violence, driven by longstanding tensions between the Hutu and Tutsi ethnic groups, claimed the lives of an estimated 800,000 Tutsis over a period of 100 days.
Prosecutors allege that in his leadership role, Nsabumukunzi “directed groups of armed Hutus to kill Tutsis and set up roadblocks to detect and detain Tutsis when they left their home.” They also claim he “ordered a group of armed Hutus to locations where Tutsis were sheltering and the Hutus killed them,” and “facilitated the rape of Tutsi women by verbally encouraging Hutu men to do so.”
Court documents further reveal that Nsabumukunzi had previously been convicted in absentia by a Rwandan court for genocide.
Despite this, he applied for refugee resettlement in the United States in 2003, was granted a green card in 2007, and subsequently applied for U.S. citizenship in both 2009 and 2015.
Prosecutors allege that throughout these applications, he “repeatedly falsely claimed that he was not involved in the genocide.”
“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,” said U.S. Attorney John Durham in a statement. “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.”
At his initial court appearance on April 24, Nsabumukunzi entered a not guilty plea and was released on a $250,000 bond. His bail conditions include home detention and GPS monitoring.
He is, however, permitted to continue his gardening job for a private equity entrepreneur who posted his bond, according to reports by ABC News and The New York Times.
Nsabumukunzi’s life in the U.S. had previously been profiled in a 2006 article by The New York Times, which portrayed him as a refugee who escaped the violence in Rwanda and eventually found work as a beekeeper in the Hamptons.
The article noted he had led a team of 150 beekeepers managing 1,500 hives back in Rwanda. He told the paper at the time that he had lost over 200 relatives in the genocide and was trying to rebuild a new life in the U.S.
This latest case adds to a growing list of prosecutions related to the Rwandan genocide. In March 2024, an Ohio resident, Eric Tabaro Nshimiye, was also charged with lying about his role in the genocide and for giving false testimony in a 2019 Boston trial.
Meanwhile, Jean Leonard Teganya, his former classmate, was earlier convicted of immigration fraud and perjury.
Other international prosecutions include a 2014 case in France where a former Rwandan soldier was sentenced to 25 years, and a 2013 Norwegian case that led to a 21-year sentence for another genocide participant.
In the U.S., Beatrice Munyenyezi from New Hampshire was sentenced to 10 years in prison in 2013 for obtaining citizenship fraudulently after reportedly aiding the persecution of Tutsis. She was later deported and sentenced to life imprisonment in Rwanda.
