Forty-eight Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) employees yet to be arrested over fraud allegations at the authority have been asked to report to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations today.
DCI boss George Kinoti directed that the suspects report to the Investigations Bureau at Kiambu Road today by 7am without fail.
Out of the 48, 32 are from the Domestic and Border Control department while another 15 are from Customs and Border Control. Also summoned is Francis Zakayo Sikamoi, the only employee from the Investigations and Enforcement department.
The following listed suspects who are connected with the ongoing investigations @KRACorporate, are hereby compelled to report @DCI_Kenya Headquarters~Investigations Bureau(IB Block) on Monday 13th May 2019 by 7:00 AM without fail. pic.twitter.com/sPBmbNHCx9
— DCI KENYA (@DCI_Kenya) May 12, 2019
Meanwhile, the other staff members arrested on Friday and Saturday will be charged in court today. Among those arrested are the chief manager at Customs and Valuation and two managers one based at the Sameer Park on Mombasa Road and the other one from Thika.
The employees were arrested after a multi-agency investigative team working under-cover linked them to tax evasion and other frauds that have led to loss of billions of shillings in revenue.
Investigations revealed that some of the employees were issuing tax compliance certificates to Kenyans who were yet to file their 2018 tax returns, while others have been accused of fiddling with tax returns on behalf of taxpayers.
Investigations also revealed that some of the employees were undervaluing imports, or making fake export entries for manufacturing companies to assist in dumping of export goods locally, leading to massive loss of VAT.
Another issue under investigation is the amendments to tax returns that does not allow KRA officials to make any changes even if a client makes a mistake.
In 2014, KRA changed Legacy Tax Data System to Integrated Tax Management System in 2014 The suspects were not released on cash bail and spent at least two days in custody.