Kenya Revenue Authority unearths tax evasion scheme in foreign motor vehicles clearance
By Samuel Migele
The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) has unearthed a tax evasion sc
heme where unscrupulous persons use forged documents to facilitat
e foreign registered vehicles to operate in
Kenya without paying requisite taxes.
KRA investigations established that culprits use a false payment slip
s to facilitate clearance of foreign registered motor vehicles, thus ev
ading payment of transit road toll fees.
In a recent incident, KRA officers established that a clearing agent a
ppointed by Pwani Hauliers Limited to facilitate movement of their
trucks from Tanzania into and out of Kenya through Lunga
Lunga OSBP. Whereas the agent had been provided with funds to pa
y requisite duties, he forged payment slips and presented
them to KRA as genuine.
The clearing agent, Geoffrey Onyancha Otara, was then arrested in c
onnection to the scheme and arraigned at the Kwale Law Courts
. He was charged jointly with others not before cour
t unlawfully presented false documents, namely F147, to the Commi
ssioner of Customs and Border Control which he knew
or ought to have known to be false.
He committed the offence on or about 22nd March, 2021
at Lunga Lunga One Stop Border Post (OSBP) within Kwale County, b
eing a representative of an exporter, Pwani Hauliers Limited. He als
o faced a second count of conspiring with others not before court to
unlawfully use a false document to evade taxes, in contravention of
the East African Community Customs Management Act, 2004 (EACC
MA).
The suspect denied the charges before Kwale Resident Magistrate H
on. Christine Auka. The Court released him on a bond of Kshs.70,000
with an alternative of Kshs.40,000 bail. The case
will be mentioned on 13th May, 2021.
KRA is determined to detect and disrupt tax evasion schemes and pr
osecute criminals who engage in fraud at our borders to ensure that
all individuals pay their fair share of taxes to the government.
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