The Director of Criminal Investigations has exposed rot at the tax body after seizing millions of stolen Kenya Revenue Authority stamps from Africa Spirits distillery in Thika.
According to Standard, the duty receipts worth Ksh6 billion were stolen from KRA’s printing premises.
The owner of the distillery, Africa Spirits Ltd, billionaire Humphrey Kariuki, has been questioned by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) on several occasions over tax evasion.
Insiders remarked that such thefts have been going on for a long time despite awareness of senior officers at the agency.
The stamps that were seized could be affixed to 21 million bottles and were used to confirm payment of taxes.
“We have confirmed the authenticity of the seized stamps but it has not been established how they were acquired by the suspect without receipt of applicable duties,” revealed a source.
Detectives are questioning officials from KRA and Sicpa, the contracted manufacturer of the stamps.
“Investigations of this case are under the Serious and Economic Crime units of the Directorate of Criminal Investigations,” KRA told Standard in an email.
DCI is expected to extend investigations to customs offices on the Tanzania border.
“The law is very clear; if you are caught with fake stamps and once we have legally verified that a law has been broken, Section 31 of Finance Act 2018 gives us powers to seize the plant and the goods,” KRA Commissioner for Intelligence James Mburu mentioned.