A businessman has pleaded guilty to a charge of possession of counterfeit excise stamps affixed to liquor products he was distributing for sale in the local market.
Appearing before the Milimani Law Court Chief Magistrate Martha Mutuku, the accused Joseph Ndung’u admitted to the charge of being in possession of 5,500 bottles of 750 ml of Santana Ice Vodka affixed with counterfeit stamps with a duty value of Kshs1.4 million.
The accused was fined Kshs 100,000 failure to which he will be jailed for 3 months. The goods have been forfeited to KRA.
Ndung’u was arrested on 21st January after Multi-agency team found the liquor in his motor vehicle at a guest house along Naivasha-Nairobi highway on 9th January 2021. Delivery book recovered in the vehicle indicated that the liquor was being taken to Kerugoya and Maragwa.
Affixing counterfeit excise stamps to excisable goods such as alcohol and beverages is a criminal offence under Regulation 30 (1) (G) as read with Regulation 30(2) of the Excise Duty (Excisable Goods Management System) Act 2015.
The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) strives to detect and disrupt tax evasion schemes and prosecute criminals to ensure that all individuals pay their fair share of taxes.
