Provided
false information regarding her activities and associations during the Rwandan
genocide in 1994
BOSTON — A federal jury today convicted
a Rwandan woman of lying to enter the country and again when seeking asylum.
This case is being investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's
(ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the U.S. Department of State,
Bureau of Diplomatic Security.
Prudence Kantengwa, aka Prudentienne,
47, of Boston, who is a native and citizen of Rwanda, was convicted of fraud in
immigration documents, visa fraud, perjury during testimony before an
immigration judge and obstruction of administrative proceedings. Judge Richard
G. Stearns scheduled sentencing for July 31, 2012.
Evidence at trial revealed that when
Kantengwa entered the United States Jan. 29, 2004, she possessed and used a
non-immigrant visa she had fraudulently obtained by providing false information
when she submitted with her visa application. After arriving in the United
States March 8, 2004, she provided false information to the U.S. government on
a form which, if approved, would allow her to remain in the country. On
specific dates between August 2006 and May 2008, Kantengwa committed perjury
during testimony before an immigration court. Between March 2004 and December
2008, Kantengwa endeavored to obstruct administrative proceedings being
conducted in connection with her application to stay in the United States by
providing false and misleading testimony and submissions. The questions to
which Kantengwa provided false information all involved her activities and
associations during the Rwandan genocide in 1994.
Kantengwa faces up to 10 years in prison
to be followed by three years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine, on the
fraudulent immigration document charges. Kantengwa also faces five years in
prison, to be followed by three years supervised release and a $250,000 fine on
each of the perjury and obstruction of administrative proceedings convictions.
HSI's Human Rights Violators and War
Crimes Center (HRVWCC) investigates human rights violators, including those who
have participated in war crimes and acts of genocide, torture, extrajudicial
killings, and the recruitment and use of child soldiers, who try to evade
justice by seeking shelter in the United States. These individuals may assume
fraudulent identities to enter the country, seeking to blend into communities
inside the United States. Members of the public who have information about
foreign nationals suspected of engaging in human rights abuses or war crimes
are urged to call the HSI tip line at 1-866-DHS-2-ICE or to complete the
agency's online tip form. To learn more about the assistance available to
victims in these cases, the public should contact HSI's confidential
victim-witness toll-free number at 1-866-872-4973. Tips may be provided
anonymously.
Since fiscal year 2004, HSI has arrested
more than 200 individuals for human rights-related violations under various
criminal and/or immigration statutes. During that same period, HSI obtained
deportation orders and physically removed more than 400 known or suspected
human rights violators from the United States. Currently, HSI has more than 200
active investigations and HSI is pursuing more than 1,900 leads and removal
cases involving suspected human rights violators from nearly 95 different
countries.
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