KIGALI, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- Rwandan former Prime Minister Pierre Damien Habumuremyi was sentenced to three years in prison and fined 892.2 million Rwandan francs (about 926,000 U.S. dollars) for issuing bounced checks, Nyarugenge Intermediate Court in the Rwandan capital city Kigali ruled on Friday.
However, the court dismissed the charge of breach of trust saying that the prosecution lacked sufficient evidence.
He was arrested this July and was allegedly issued bounced checks worth 100 million Rwandan francs between 2018 and 2019 when he was the rector of the Christian University of Rwanda, which is defunct.
Habumuremyi served as prime minister from October 2011 to July 2014.
The former head of cabinet committed the crime between 2018 and 2019 as the rector and owner of Christian University of Rwanda and is behind the mismanagement of the university that owes over 1 billion Rwandan francs (about 1.05 million dollars) of unpaid wages to university staff and rent arrears, according to prosecution.
His university was closed in July by the Rwandan Ministry of Education for failing to fulfill requirements.
The university had been given a provisional license but failed to fulfill the requirements to be accredited to get a final license, according to the Ministry of Education. Enditem
