MINERAL WATER MANUFACTURER JAILED OVER FAKE KRA STAMPS

Director, his driver fined KShs. 2.5M or 1 year in jail over fake stamps.

By Samuel Migele

A company director and his driver were

sentenced to one year imprisonment by

Senior Principal Magistrate Martha

Nanzushi or pay a fine of 2.5 million

Kenya shillings to get back there

freedom after pleading guilty to one

count of being in possession of

counterfeit excise stamps.

Francis Mwaura Muthoni, a director at

Janfra Enterprises, a company that

manufactures mineral water and sells

wholesale within the country.

He was fined 2 million for possession

of 719 cases of Mt. Zion purified

drinking water all affixed with

counterfeit excise stamps with a

dutiable value of 137,503 Kenya

shillings which his driver Misheck

Muchiri Mwangi was arrested with while

conveying along the Thika – Garissa

Road at Bondeni area using lorry

registration number KAQ 600U. Muchiri

was fined KShs. 500,000.

The two accused persons were charged on

18th August 2021 with the offence of

being in possession of excisable goods

affixed with counterfeit excise stamps

contrary to regulation 30(1) (g) as

read with regulation 30(2) of the

Excise Duty (Excisable Goods Management

System) Regulations 2017 and Conveying

of excisable goods affixed with

counterfeit excise stamps contrary to

regulation 30(1) (g) as read with

regulation 30(2) of the Excise Duty

(Excisable Goods Management System)

Regulations 2017.

Nairobi’s Senior Principal Magistrate,

Hon. Martha Nanzushi further made an

order of forfeiture of the 719 cases of

water to the commissioner and directed

that the owner of the motor vehicle to

show cause as to why the lorry should

not be forfeited to KRA.

Use of counterfeit excise stamps is a

form of tax evasion that denies the

government the much-needed revenue.

KRA Investigation team vowed not to

relent on operations aimed at

detecting, disrupting and deterring the

use of counterfeit stamps on excisable

goods by syndicates and organized

cartels in order to enhance revenue

collection.