A senior Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) manager and his wife have been acquitted in a case they were accused of evading Sh38.6 million taxes.
Anti-Corruption chief magistrate Douglas Ogoti, sitting at the Milimani law cleared Mr Joseph Chege Gikonyo, his wife Lucy Kangai Stephen, and their company Giche Limited from any wrongdoing.
A senior Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) manager and his wife have been acquitted in a case they were accused of evading Sh38.6 million taxes.
Anti-Corruption chief magistrate Douglas Ogoti, sitting at the Milimani law cleared Mr Joseph Chege Gikonyo, his wife Lucy Kangai Stephen, and their company Giche Limited from any wrongdoing.
He said the case was prosecuted by an agency (Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission(EACC) that did not conduct investigations into tax evasion claims.
The magistrate said the accused were arrested and charged based on a report carried out by officers from KRA.
“The report which the EACC relied upon to charge the accused was a penalty and interest slapped on the couple’s company for allegedly failing to remit revenue earned between 2010 and 2015,” Mr Ogoti said.
Mr Ogoti ruled that EACC did not carry out independent investigations but passed on the report to the DPP for perusal and advise.
He agreed with the evidence presented by lawyers Abbas Esmail and Gibson Kimani that under the KRA Act once it concludes a matter and imposes a penalty and interest the issue is deemed finalised.
“As pointed out correctly by defence under the KRA Act once it finalises a matter it cannot be re-opened through a criminal system,” the court said.
Mr Esmail said the amounts claimed were earnings from their family investment in Mombasa where they reside.
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