Company directors charged with Sh126m tax evasion
FRAUD: Two foreign businessmen in the automotive industry have been arraigned before a Mombasa court for evading payment of tax worth Sh126 million.
Pakistani nationals, Nabil Hussain Quresh and Salman Ahmed Rizvi and their company Ameen Motors Ltd were jointly charged for unlawfully making incorrect statements in their income tax returns for a period of four years, reducing their corporate tax liability.
The court heard that the suspects charged with four counts, allegedly reduced their corporate tax liability by Sh32.1 million in 2014, Sh43.8 million in 2015, Sh32.2 million in 2016 and Sh19.6 million in 2018.
The taxman said the suspects were arrested following lengthy investigations carried out by its Investigation and Enforcement Department on the suspected tax fraud schemes.
The suspects, who pleaded not guilty before Mombasa Chief Magistrate Edna Nyaloti, were released on a bond of Sh20 million with a surety of the same amount. The court also ordered the accused to deposit their passports with the court. The case will be mentioned on December 17.
Investigations carried out by Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) revealed that during the period between January 2013 and December 2018 the suspects imported 599 units of motor vehicles worth Sh217 million.
All these motor vehicle units, the taxman said were sold and proceeds of Sh658 million banked by the accused persons without paying taxes due.
Eligible taxpayers
The taxman has undertaken to ensure all eligible taxpayers pay their fair share of taxes in time and remain tax compliant to avoid punitive enforcement measures including prosecution.
KRA has implemented various initiatives targeting all Kenyans who fall in the taxpaying bracket to ensure they meet their tax obligations.
Since the start of the crackdown on tax evaders, it has prosecuted 118 individuals for defaulted revenue assessed at Sh54.3 billion between July 1 and September 30.
During the last Financial Year (2018/2019), KRA data shows it recovered Sh8.53 billion from 222 tax evasion cases won.
Sectors which have been found to be commonly used to evade taxes include betting, electronics importers and excisable goods manufacturers.
Others are steel and hardware manufacturers, county suppliers, high-end motor vehicle importers and construction sectors.
– Barry Silah
