Rwanda nabs Chinese investor Billy Cheung who fled to Kigali after fleecing Ugandans

February 24, 2025 in Business, Foreign News, Trade & Industry by Editor

Picture courtesy of Taarifa

The run by fugitive Chinese businessman Billy Cheung, who defrauded more than 200 Ugandans including businessman John Fred Freeman Kiyimba of USD 7 million, appears to have come to an abrupt end in Kigali, after he was apprehended by Rwandan authorities earlier this month.

Rwandan prosecutors are pushing to secure authority to put Cheung’s properties in Rwanda on the market to recover a total of USD 51.6 million, including USD 44.6 million owed to the Rwandan subsidiary of regional lender KCB Bank. He was arrested February 4, 2025, soon after arrival from Dubai.

The fugitive businessman is seeking temporary release on bail while prosecutors are gunning for a 30-day provisional detention.

The Rwandan online publication Taarifa reports that Cheung, also known as Cheung Yiu Tung, is faces charges of money laundering and other financial crimes. The charges stem from years of alleged fraudulent business activities involving Mr Cheung in Rwanda and Uganda.

Cheung Yiu Tung’s racked up debts amounting to US$51.6 million and Rwf 63,333,422, at different times in Uganda and Rwanda.

According to Taarifa, Cheung has assets in Rwanda, including the Century Park Hotel Kigali, Billy Bistro, villas, and land in kigali’s upscale suburb of Nyarutarama. All these have been placed on auction in Rwanda to recover US$7,075,050 owed to creditors, including Ugandan businessman John Fred Freeman Kiyimba and The New Park Lock-Up Owners’ Association Limited. The claims by Cheung’s Ugandan creditors are based on Ugandan court rulings against Cheung Yiu Tung which have been upheld by Rwandan courts, allowing the enforcement of debt recovery.

Taarifa further reports that the auction, assigned to Professional Court Bailiff Me. Gategeko Aimable was set to take place in three rounds between December 2024 and January 2025, with properties valued between Rwf 248 million and Rwf 4.9 billion. However, Cheung Yiu Tung’s total assets appeared to fall short at less than US$25 million, leaving a US$26 million shortfall.

Cheung Yiu Tung’s legal team, led by Fountain Advocates and Faustin Murangwa, has tried to argue that the case against their client was a civil debt dispute, and hence not a criminal matter. They alleged that the Ugandan court rulings were based on manipulated evidence and that accusations of money laundering lacked merit.

Prosecutors however, countered that Cheung Yiu Tung defrauded over 200 businesspeople in Uganda, obtaining US$23 million for a modern market project he never completed before fleeing to Rwanda. Investigations have also uncovered property registration irregularities at the Land Centre, including the unexplained removal of caveats on assets held by KCB Bank Rwanda, which claims US$44.6 million and Rwf 63,333,422 from Cheung Yiu Tung. The charge sheet details serious cases against Cheung including fraud, money laundering, embezzlement, misappropriation of funds and breach of trust.

The court is set to rule on Cheung Yiu Tung’s bail application on February 25, 2025. Meanwhile,  a sideshow is unfolding as his creditors scramble for priority over the proceeds from the auction.