Four KRA officers were charged on Thursday with perpetrating tax evasion-related crimes, the taxman has reported amid a raft of new customs procedures.
Lilian Onyango, John Wesonga, Anthony Ochieng and David Mwongela were charged with
making false customs transit bonds.
They
denied the charges before chief magistrate Daniel Ogembo at Milimani law courts and
were released on Sh1 million bond or Sh200,000 cash bail each.
The four employees of the Kenya Revenue Authority are on suspension
for abetting tax evasion vices at Portside and Autoport Container Freight Stations in Mombasa. The CFSs are owned by Mombasa Governor Hassan Joho's family.
The four were
formerly attached to the KRA Customs and Border Control Division in the county.
KRA has managed to plug potential revenue leakage holes in the lucrative import cargo sector.
On Wednesday, officials found 20 containers of contraband sugar at
Autoport CFS, which had been alongside Portside amid reports linking them to smuggling.
The consignment, which had been declared as floor sanding machines and related hardware tools, has an estimated tax value of Sh36 million, said Grace Wandera,
Marketing and Communication deputy commissioner.
The closure came after an executive directive by President Uhuru Kenyatta, who oversaw the destruction of illicit rice, ethanol and sugar allegedly cleared by the CFSs.