Authorities Announce Charges Against Alleged War Criminal Living As Beekeeper In America For Decades

Federal authorities announced Thursday that a federal grand jury returned an indictment against an accused war criminal for allegedly helping orchestrate the Rwandan genocide. The suspect has been living as a Long Island beekeeper for decades after lying on immigration documents, according to a press release from the Eastern District of New York announcing the charges.

The suspect, Faustin Nsabumukunzi, 65, allegedly entered the U.S. under false pretenses and established a new life as a beekeeper in Bridgehampton, New York, evading detection for years.

“As alleged, Nsabumukunzi repeatedly lied to conceal his involvement in the horrific Rwandan genocide while seeking to become a lawful permanent resident and citizen of the United States,” said U.S. Attorney John J. Durham for the Eastern District of New York. “For over two decades, he got away with those lies and lived in the United States with an undeserved clean slate, a luxury that his victims will never have, but thanks to the tenacious efforts of our investigators and prosecutors, the defendant finally will be held accountable for his brutal actions.” (RELATED: Rwandan Genocide Orchestrator Dead At 80)

Armed civilians wait for Red Cross-delivered food April 13, 1994 in Kigali, Rwanda. Following the apparent assassination of Rwandan President Juvenal Habyarimana, a massive wave of Hutu-inflicted revenge killings has rocked the African nation, leaving thousands of Tutsi civilians dead and renewing the civil war between the Tutsi-led Rwandan Patriotic Front and the Hutu-backed government. (Photo by Scott Peterson/Liaison)

Refugees crowd along the banks of a river May 3, 1994 at the border of Rwanda and Tanzania. Hutu refugees have fled to Tanzania across the Akagara River in order to escape reprisals by Tutsi rebels. (Photo by Scott Peterson/Liaison)

A woman carrying her child looks at the wall of victims’ names as Rwanda marks the 25th Commemoration of the 1994 Genocide at the Kigali Genocide Memorial in Kigali, Rwanda, on April 8, 2019. – Rwanda on April 7, 2019 began 100 days of mourning for more than 800,000 people slaughtered in a genocide that shocked the world, a quarter of a century on from the day it began. (Photo: ASUYOSHI CHIBA/AFP via Getty Images)

Federal authorities claim the individual played a significant role in the 1994 Rwandan genocide, which resulted in the deaths of an estimated 800,000 people, primarily ethnic Tutsis.

Specifically, the Department of Justice’s Eastern District Of New York division claims Nsabumukunzi was a local leader in 1994 with the title of “Sector Counselor.” Between April and July of that year, when the genocide began, members of the majority Hutu population committed extreme acts of violence against the minority Tutsis, like murder and rape.

“This defendant has been living in the United States for decades, hiding his alleged horrific conduct, human rights violations, and his role in these senseless atrocities against innocent Tutsis,” said Acting Special Agent in Charge Darren B. McCormack of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) New York. “The depraved conduct of which the defendant is accused represent the worst of humanity.”

(WARNING: Graphic Content)

375433 01: Bodies of Tutsi genocide victims lie outside a church in Rukara, Rwanda May 1994. One of the worst single acts of violence took place at the church, where 4,000 people seeking refuge there were killed by Hutu militias. (Photo by Paula Bronstein/Liaison)

“As alleged, the defendant participated in the commission of heinous acts of violence abroad and then lied his way into a green card and tried to obtain U.S. citizenship,” said Matthew R. Galeotti, head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “No matter how much time has passed, the Department of Justice will find and prosecute individuals who committed atrocities in their home countries and covered them up to gain entry and seek citizenship in the United States.”