Rwanda’s investigation into a major fraud at Equity Bank has intensified, with 35 suspects in custody and forensic teams examining seized electronic devices.
Approximately $2.5 million, roughly 74% of the alleged total, is still outstanding. The Rwanda Investigation Bureau is leading the investigation, which has already expanded into Uganda, where 6 suspects were detained as part of a cross-border crackdown.
Equity Bank Rwanda confirmed in a public statement dated March 15 that its internal surveillance systems detected irregular transaction patterns, triggering an immediate rollout of security and incident response protocols.
The bank said the majority of the transactions were reversed within 24 hours and that it was cooperating with law enforcement and the National Bank of Rwanda.
| TOTAL AFFECTED $3.4m Rwf4.7bn at current rates | RECOVERED $870k 26% of the total alleged | OUTSTANDING $2.5m 74% still unrecovered | IN CUSTODY 35 incl. 6 in Uganda |
“We wish to reassure our customers and stakeholders that customer deposits and accounts remain safe and secure, and the bank’s operations continue as normal. No customer funds have been lost.”
Equity Bank Rwanda Management, public statement, March 15, 2026.
Inside the scheme: Float, SIM Cards, and a Vendor Platform
Investigators believe the fraud exploited Rwanda’s mobile money float system, a mechanism by which licensed agents deposit cash into a bank trust account and receive equivalent electronic value in their mobile wallets, which they then use to serve customers.
Because daily bank-to-wallet transfer limits cap out at roughly $1,450, moving $3.4 million through normal channels would have required thousands of individual transactions.
Instead, investigators say the perpetrators bypassed those limits entirely by routing funds through bulk float purchases, using SIM cards with no prior transaction history to buy float worth up to $72,000 each.
The suspected entry point into the bank’s systems was a platform operated by ESICIA Ltd., a technology vendor whose internet banking software Equity Bank Rwanda uses under license.
Read: Equity Bank Processed 88.4% Transactions Digitally With Branches Reserved for the Big Money
Forensic specialists are reviewing server logs and user activity trails to establish who accessed the platform and when. ESICIA’s chief executive declined to comment.
“What we saw were SIM cards buying float of up to $72,000. Some of those SIM cards had never previously received even $1,” a bank official told Taarifa Rwanda.
Two of those detained are Equity Bank IT staff with roles in data center operations. Investigators are probing whether the perpetrators gained physical or technical access to the bank’s infrastructure.
READ: Kenya and Rwanda Sign Deal Allowing Payment Companies to Operate Freely Across Both Nations
A bank official cautioned that their detention does not amount to an admission of guilt.
“The suspicion was that there must have been physical access to the data center,” the official said. “But even that I cannot confirm. RIB needs to complete the forensic investigation.”
Equity Bank Is Still Fighting Its Past
The Rwanda episode lands as Equity Group, Kenya’s second-largest commercial bank by assets, with subsidiaries across Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania, South Sudan, and the Democratic Republic of Congo, processes the fallout from a recent internal anti-fraud campaign.
In 2025, the group fired more than 1,200 employees in Kenya after a months-long investigation found widespread collusion between staff and external fraudsters, with losses exceeding $15 million, some wired to offshore accounts, including in Abu Dhabi.
Group CEO James Mwangi subsequently extended the crackdown to Uganda and vowed to take the campaign across all seven markets.
“I don’t even care. I have just started the journey. I will protect the customers and the bank. I will be ruthless,” Mwangi said at the time.
The group’s shares, listed on the Nairobi Securities Exchange, Uganda Securities Exchange, and Rwanda Stock Exchange, will be closely watched as the forensic investigation continues with no announced timeline for conclusion.
