State yet to table Keroche tax evidence

Keroche Breweries Chief Executive Officer Tabitha Karanja (left) and her husband Joseph leave Milimani Law Courts on September 2, 2019 after the mention of their tax evasion case. The pretrial is set for October 8. PHOTO | FILE | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • State prosecutor and Assistant Director of Public Prosecution Catherine Mwaniki told the court that they were to supply the documents by Monday but that there was miscommunication and they failed to deliver them.

A Nairobi court has given the prosecution until tomorrow to supply Keroche Breweries CEO Tabitha Karanja and her husband James Karanja Muigai with witness statements and other exhibits they will be relying upon in their trial against charges of Sh14bn tax evasion.

Appearing before chief magistrate chief magistrate Martha Mutuku on Tuesday, Senior Counsel James Orengo said it was unfortunate that they were yet to be supplied with the documents two weeks later.

DOCUMENTS

“They are yet comply with the directions of the court and the reasons given are not sufficient. They should be supplying those documents with the same speed they use during the arrest,” he said.

State prosecutor and Assistant Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) Catherine Mwaniki told the court that they were to supply the documents by Monday but that there was miscommunication and they failed to deliver them.

“But we have the box files in court and the inventory. We had agreed that they should be given at least 10 days to peruse the documents to confirm whether they are in order,” she said.

Ms Karanja and Mr Muigai pleaded not guilty to the charges and were released on bail. The charges stated that they were involved in fraud by posting incorrect statements on excise duty by reducing the company’s tax liability. They are alleged to have committed the offences between February 20, 2015 and July 20, 2019.

Mr Muigai was released on cash bail of Sh2 million while Ms Karanja was directed to deposit cash bail of Sh10 million plus Sh15 million on behalf of the company.

The charges stated that they were involved in fraud by posting incorrect statements on excise duty by reducing the company’s tax liability. They are alleged to have committed the offences between February 20, 2015 and July 20, 2019 and the amount involved is Sh14.5 billion.

The court set pretrial for October 8.