Companies

Roofing firm boss denies Sh900m tax evasion

kra

The Kenya Revenue Authority headquarters in Nairobi. FILE PHOTO | NMG

The managing director of roofing company Royal Mabati Factory has been charged with evading Sh900 million tax.

Moses Ikinya Kang’arua denied 12 counts of charges ranging from fraud in relation to tax, altering statements in income tax returns, omitting to declare income taxes and Value Added Taxes, under-declaring imports and substituting and removing goods in a bonded warehouse.

Nairobi chief magistrate Francis Andayi ordered him and the company to deposit a Sh1 million cash bail each to secure their released.

The first count stated that on diverse dates between July 1, 2016 and July 30, 2017, Mr Kang’arua posted incorrect statements for 2016, which reduced the corporate liability by Sh20,916,653.

On the second count, he allegedly under-declared tax liability for 2017 leading to the loss of Sh172 million, due to the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA).

The company allegedly under-declared tax returns for the 2015-2018 period.

The company is further accused of failing to declare goods deposited in a bonded warehouse. It was also said to have substituted 173 rolls of steel coils with a dutiable value of Sh62 million, which led to loss of Sh25 million to KRA.

It was further alleged that Royal Mabati Factory under- declared the weights of imports resulting in a variance in weight and leading to evasion in payment of Sh120.5 million duty between 2018 and 2019.

The court set the hearing of the case for October 29.

The firm last year found itself mired in a vicious court battle with rival Mabati Rolling Mills over the ownership of a popular trade name in the roofing market.

Mabati Rolling Mills, which is linked to billionaire Manu Chandaria, had sued Royal Mabati Factory for using the word ‘Versatile’ in branding and marketing of its roofing sheets — with Mabati Rolling Mills claiming the term had been reserved for its exclusive use.