Arrest warrant issued against businesswoman Wambui in tax case

 

Two directors of Purma Holdings Limited failed to appear in court on  Monday, December 6, to answer charges of not remitting taxes amounting to Sh2.2 billion.

The two, Mary Wambui Mungai and Purity Njoki Mungai failed to honour summons on the same by the Kenya Revenue Authority.

They were to be charged with eight counts of knowingly and unlawfully omitting taxes due in the income tax returns submitted to the Commissioner for Domestic Taxes between 2014-2016.

A warrant of arrest was issued against the directors.

Anti-corruption court magistrate Felix Kombo said the prosecution had presented copies of documents to show the accused were served with summons.

This was in reaction to claims by the defence team that their clients were not served.

The defence claimed Wambui was admitted at The Nairobi Hospital on November 29 and was unable to attend court.

They asked for 10 days to present Njoki as she had not been served with the summons.

Warrant of arrest

An anticipatory bail they applied before the High Court in Nairobi on December 3 failed as no direction was given.

The prosecution opposed the application and argued no medical records were presented to confirm the claims.

“It is clear the directors were properly served and neglected to appear,” the magistrate said.

The magistrate said there was no indication of medical incapacity of the alleged illness and incapacitation.

He said the court had examined the charges and noted the gravity and the public interest nature.

“It would appear to the court that the accused are buying time and have refused to confront the complaint levelled against them. The accused to be arrested and presented before the court,” he ruled. 

The magistrate ordered the Officer Commanding Capitol Hill police station to arrest the accused. The case will be mentioned on December 14 or as soon as they are arrested.

KRA is pursuing Mungai over alleged unpaid taxes for the billions of shillings earned from government tenders for supplying boots, uniforms and cereals to the military, among other state departments.

The taxman says Mungai and her two daughters earned billions of shillings between 2014 and 2019 through their company Purma Holdings Ltd.

KRA says it has been conducting investigations on tax obligations by the company for the past two years.

They are to be charged with at least seven charges.

In the first charge, they are accused of omitting from returns an amount that should have been included contrary to Section 97(a) as read with Section 104(3) of the Tax Procedures Act No. 29 of 2015

They are to be charged with failure to submit a tax return by the due date contrary to Section 94(1) as read with Section 104(1) of the Tax Procedures Act No. 29 of 2015 and failure to pay tax by the due date contrary.

If found guilty for the offence of omission, the penalty is a fine not exceeding Sh10 million or double the tax evaded whichever is higher or imprisonment for a term not exceeding ten years or both.

For submitting a tax return and failure to pay tax, the penalty is a fine not exceeding Sh1 million and imprisonment for a term not exceeding three years.  BY THE STAR