Keroche CEO Tabitha Muigai was on the morning of Thursday charged afresh in the Ksh 14.5 billion tax evasion case.
The Nakuru senator appeared before Milimani senior principal magistrate Esther Kimilu and pleaded not guilty in the ten tax-related counts after the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions amended the charge sheet against her adding additional particulars.
“We are seeking to amend the charge sheet with different dates than the previous one. No witness has so far testified in the matter,” the prosecution informed the court.
The magistrate granted the state’s request and ordered the Keroche CEO to enter a plea to the state’s fresh accusations of tax fraud levelled against her.
In count one, Tabitha denied that on various dates between February 20, 2015, and January 20, 2016 within the Republic of Kenya, she knowingly made incorrect statements in your excise duty for the period January 2015 to December 2015 by declaring production volumes by 820,602 Litres and misapplication of excise duty rate rates on Vienna Ice by using Ksh 27.06 instead of Ksh 175 thereby reducing the excise liability.
According to the charge sheet, the Senator is also accused of making incorrect statements for January 2017 to December 2017 which affected their payable excise duty by Ksh3.6 billion.
The prosecution further alleges Tabitha between February 20, 2019, and January 20 2019, she unlawfully omitted from the firm’s VAT returns for January to December affecting their VAT liability by Ksh196 million.
Tabitha through her lawyers urged the court to be granted more time to resolve outside of court with KRA before the case can commence for trial.
But, Irene Muthee, a KRA officer, informed the magistrate that there had been no out-of-court agreement yet received at their office because Keroche would be required to notify the commissioner in writing under section 109 of the Tax Procedure Act.
Consequently, Magistrate Kimilu granted Keroche 45 days to begin the out-of-court settlement process, failing which the case will go to a full trial on July 21, 2023.
On Wednesday the prosecution protested the delay occasioned in the case since Tabitha was first arraigned in court in 2018 together with her husband.
In the case, her husband Joseph Karanja was removed from the charges after the DPP withdrew charges against him due to his health condition in December 2022.
Prior to the dropping of charges against Karanja, KRA had lodged a petition in the High Court seeking to have Keroche Breweries for contempt of court over failure to honour court orders compelling the firm to make monthly payments on tax arrears and honour current taxes.
KRA had argued that Keroche did not honour payments amounting to Ksh.30.3 million including the payment of Ksh.16 million in two equal tranches in August last year. Keroche was further in default of Ksh.14.3 billion in current taxes.
The senator had in the past accused the taxman of selective and unfair targeting, arguing that she has always followed the law and was shocked to be accused of tax evasion when the matters were still under a tax tribunal.
The case will be mentioned on July 26, 2023.
