Court sets new date for Keroche Sh14.5 billion tax evasion case

A Nairobi court yesterday ordered a Sh14.5 billion tax evasion case against the director of Keroche Breweries Tabitha Muigai Karanja to be mentioned on March 13 for further directions.

Milimani Senior Principal magistrate Esther Kimilu issued the order to enable Karanja who is also the Nakuru senator to confirm whether her new defence lawyer has obtained copies of witness documents from her previous lawyers.

The matter could not proceed because Karanja’s new lawyer had not yet received the documents from the previous lawyers.

However, the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) told the court that it was ready to proceed since already they have supplied all the documents to the defence.

 The senator has denied 10 counts levelled against her by the State.

According to the charge sheet, the senator on diverse dates between February 20, 2015, and January 20, 2016, unlawfully made incorrect statements in their excise duty returns by reducing their duty by Sh1.8 billion.

She also made incorrect statements for the January, 2017 to December 2017 period which affected their payable excise duty by Sh3.6 billion.