The former Member of Parliament in Kenya, Tarus Stephen Kipkyen, has been remanded to Luzira prison for falsifying export documents and causing revenue loss to the Government of Uganda.
Appearing before magistrate Esther Asiimwe, Kipkyeny was charged with forgery of export documents for 13 kg of gold valued at $30,000 (Shs 113.6 million).
The gold was allegedly destined for Dubai, where one of the suspect‘s clients, Kostbar International, is based. Kostbar is a company that designs and manufactures jewellery exclusively for trade.
The prosecution, led by Stuart Ahebwa, told the court that there is a big team behind this tax evasion scheme, and so far only one person has been netted.
“It is a group, and now we have only one person. The issue of them forging documents that they are working with URA also makes matters worse, and it is also the reason we have arranged Kipkyenyi in court, Ahebwa said.
Meanwhile, according to the East African Community Customs Management Act (EACCMA), a person who makes or uses false documents upon conviction shall be liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three years or to a fine not exceeding USD 10,000. This means that once Kipkyenyi is found guilty, he will be subject to these terms.
In the URA, smuggling and fraud remain the top customs offences. For example, last year alone, URA recovered Shs 132.77 billion through country-wide enforcement operations, Shs 130.50 billion through court arbitration, and Shs 174.64 billion through tax investigation interventions.
Also, for those who are not familiar with Kenya’s politics, Stephen Tarus Kipkyeny served under President Mwai Kibaki’s administration as the Assistant Minister of Internal Security and as Kenya’s High Commissioner to Australia from 2009 to 2012. Prior to his appointments under the Kibaki regime, the suspect had served as the Member of Parliament for Emgwen Constituency between 2003 and 2007.
