The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) has frozen 11 bank accounts belonging to Kenyan billionaire Humphrey Kariuki.
This comes after the agency obtained orders from the court to freeze the businessman’s accounts over alleged tax evasion totaling to Sh3 billion.
The accounts are held in several banks, including Equity, National Bank of Kenya and Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB). The accounts are linked to three companies owned by Kariuki.
In court documents, KRA says that preliminary investigations established that the companies namely; Vow Beverages Limited, Wines of the World Ltd and African Spirits Ltd, failed to submit taxes amounting to Sh3 billion.
The taxman also claims that the three firms had been supplying excisable goods with fake exercise stamps.
The court has certified the case as urgent and has directed KRA to serve the documents to the companies ahead of a hearing set for March 8th.
In the orders issued by Justice John Onyiego, Kariuki and the companies have been prohibited from transferring, withdrawing, disposing or dealing with money in the 11 accounts pending hearing and determination of the case.
KRA says the three companies that manufacture and supply alcoholic beverages failed to prove they had paid excise duty for the products.
“KRA has discovered that the respondent has been supplying alcoholic beverages affixed with counterfeit excise stamps, hence denying the agency colossal amounts of revenue,” the court documents state.
