Rwandan man convicted for obtaining citizenship illegally

A Cedar Rapids man, who immigrated to the United States from Rwanda as a refugee in 1998, was convicted by jury Friday on charges involving obtaining citizenship by fraud following a four day trial.

Gervais 'Ken” Ngombwa, 56, 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.

According to testimony, Ngombwa made false statements in an attempt to obtain citizenship for himself and family members who came with him to the United States from Rwanda, following the 1994 Rwandan genocide, when tens of thousands of refugee applicants were being identified for relocation to the U.S. Ngombwa also reportedly made false statements to immigration authorities in 2014.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Ravi Narayan said in his opening statement Monday that Ngombwa told refugee and immigration officials 'what he needed to say to get where he needed to go.” It wasn't possible for all applicants to gain refugee status, so there were limitations on who would be accepted, Narayan said.

Narayan explained Ngombwa falsified those statements in interviews and documents, including misleading authorities about the identity of his brother, saying he was a prime minister who ended up in exile, a relationship that would make it difficult for him to go back to Rwanda and help ensure him refugee status for the U.S. The former prime minister wasn't his brother.

Ngombwa will remain in custody pending sentencing, set Jan. 20 in U.S. District Court. He faces up to 30 years in prison and $1 million fine. He also faces the loss of his citizenship.