• According to the statement, the court took the view that the accused did not receive any quantifiable benefits from his conduct given that the whole bribe was immediately confiscated by EACC officials.
• Moreover, the prosecution confirmed he was a first offender and in his mitigation, the accused indicated he lost his job in 2014 and is living with significant medical conditions.
The Judiciary has defended a Sh2 million fine against a former KRA staffer found guilty of receiving a Sh15 million bribe.
The Judiciary on Thursday said it made the ruling basing on the evidence that was tabled before the court.
On Wednesday, Justice Lawrence Mugambi had slapped Robert Maina Ngumi with the Sh2 million fine for soliciting and receiving a bribe of Sh15 million.
Ngumi, a former manager at the domestic taxes department, received the bribe from a businessman so that he could reduce tax arrears of Sh439.9 million to Sh18.6 million.
Ngumi committed the crime six years ago and was presented to the Anti-Corruption court by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission.
Justice Mugambi in his ruling said Ngumi should serve 18 months in prison should he fail to pay the fine.
This sparked social media uproar from Kenyans who said the fine was just a drop in the ocean, compared to the bribe that he received.
But the Judiciary in their response said Ngumi was charged in March 2014 with four counts which were later reduced to two counts.
“The accused solicited the amount of Sh15 million, but unknown to him, the Anti-Corruption Commission were alerted. On the day he was to receive the bribe, he was given US dollars 1100 equivalent to Sh110,000,” read part of a statement to newsrooms.
According to the Judiciary, the rest of the money was in fake currency that was never entered in the charge sheet. “For avoidance of doubt, the court in fact had before it a case involving receipt of Sh110,000 as a bribe and not Sh15 million. Upon receipt, he was arrested by undercover EACC who were on stand-by and the money, confiscated and produced as evidence in court,” the statement read.
The statement said while sentencing the accused, Justice Mugambi referred to Section 48(1) of the Anti-Corruption and Economic Crimes Act which provides that someone convicted of soliciting benefit “shall be liable to a fine not exceeding Sh1 million or to imprisonment to a term not exceeding ten years or both.
This is regardless of the amount of the bribe received.“The Court imposed a fine of Sh1 million for each of the two counts thus the total fine of Sh2 million. It is hereby noted that offences have prescribed penalties in law which the courts cannot go beyond. In this case, the maximum financial punishment provided in law is Sh1 million per count,” it said.
According to the statement, the court took the view that the accused did not receive any quantifiable benefits from his conduct given that the whole bribe was immediately confiscated by EACC officials.
Moreover, the prosecution confirmed he was a first offender and in his mitigation, the accused indicated he lost his job in 2014 and is living with significant medical conditions.“…. KRA is still at liberty under section 23(3)b of Tax Procedures Act to pursue the taxpayer and conclude the audit and issue an assessment for recovery of the Tax,” the statement read.