- DCI reveals African Spirits, Wow Beverages and their associates may have been involved in money laundering
- Investigators say shareholders and directors of the companies are the same persons, most of them blood relations
Image: ENOS TECHE
Companies associated with businessman Humphrey Kariuki in the Sh41 billion tax evasion case may have been involved in money laundering, detectives say.
In an affidavit, DCI officer Shem Njeru said in the course of establishing the tax offences they realised there was movement of large sums of money in various companies, among them Axis logistics Limited, a firm which is a shareholder of African Spirits Limited.
“Our investigations also revealed that African Spirits, Wow Beverages and their associates may have possibly been involved in the commission of money laundering offences,” Njeru says.
The officer claims that due to the complex nature of how money is laundered and taking into consideration the intertwined companies, they obtained an order from Kiambu courts on August 19 that funds held in KCB and National Bank be frozen for a period of 90 days.
The order was later contested by the companies and was lifted. But the Director of Public Prosecutions and DCI opposed the decision.
The documents filed in court by Njeru also reveal that African Spirits comprises various shareholders and directors, among them Signature Wines Limited, Kigumba Limited, Peter Njenga Kuria, Axis Logistics Limited and Geoffrey Kinoti.
“From records obtained from the office of the Attorney General and the Department of Justice, Kigumba Limited appearing as a shareholder of African Spirits is managed by Humphrey Kariuki, Nyawira Wangari Ndegwa and Kisima Management Company Limited. They are listed as directors and shareholders,” the documents read.
Njeru says Wow Beverages comprises Humphrey Kariuki, Robert Thinji, Stuart Gerald and Peter Njenga Kuria as shareholders. The DCI has listed several companies, among them Signature Wines Limited, Golden Valley Properties Limited, Gemtal Limited, Kigumba Limited and Axis.
The shareholders and directors of the companies, according to Njeru, are the same persons and some are of blood relations.
“In the course of establishing the offences, we noted that there were large sums of money movement in the intertwined companies which is believed to be proceeds of the tax evasion crimes thus necessitated us to look into the same or the money laundering aspect,”the investigator says
Kariuki was last month charged with tax evasion. Kariuki, Wow Beverages directors Stuart Gerald Herd and Robert Thinji Muriithi, and Africa Spirits Directors Peter Njenga Kuria and Geoffrey Kaaria Kinoti Mbombua are facing a total of 21 counts of tax evasion and being in possession of counterfeit excise duty stamps
The court heard that they were found in possession of reels of counterfeit excise stamps and thousands of assorted bottles of spirits affixed with counterfeit stamps.
It is also alleged that they failed to pay taxes amounting to Sh17.7 billion between February 1, 2016 and December 31, 2018. They also allegedly failed to remit VAT on different dates.