Off the wire
• Macedonia introduces low-cost flights to Bratislava, Berlin and Copenhagen  • Burkina Faso team arrives in Uganda ahead of Afcon qualifier  • Kenya mulls new initiatives to woo Chinese tourists  • Spotlight: Egyptian plane hijacker arrested, motives to be ascertained  • U.S. stocks open lower ahead of Fed Chair speech  • Feature: About 37,000 protesters rally against Japan's controversial security laws in Tokyo  • China to improve basic science research  • Result of China vs Qatar at FIFA World Cup qualifier  • 41 IS militants killed in airstrikes, clashes with security forces in Iraq  • UNHCR decries more displacements out of South Sudan  
You are here: 　 Home

(Special for CAFS) Kenya smashes tax evasion racket for motor vehicles

Xinhua, March 29, 2016 Adjust font size:

The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) said Tuesday it has smashed a tax evasion racket perpetrated by corrupt businessmen and involving the importation of high value motor vehicles declared as personal effects and household goods.

KRA Commissioner for Customs and Border Control Department Julius Musyoki said the tax agency's officials based at the port of Mombasa last week seized two Range Rover and one Mercedes Benz vehicles valued at 280,000 U.S. dollars and with an estimated tax value of 85,000 dollars.

"All the three motor vehicles are currently detained at the Customs Warehouse for safe custody," Musyoki said in a statement issued in Nairobi.

He said the vehicles were concealed in a cargo container, loaded with baby walkers and used mattresses, earlier shipped from Britain.

The importer Saidar Muteweta of London (UK) had declared the goods as personal effects and household goods which were destined to a consignee in Uganda, Abubakari Sekimwanyi.

Musyoki said KRA is liaising with the relevant agencies such as Interpol, Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) and Regional Intelligence Liaisons Office (RILO) as part of an elaborate investigative effort.

Meanwhile, he said KRA officials over the weekend identified yet another container whose preliminary investigations, indicate that the declaration does not conform to the scanned images.

According to manifest details submitted to KRA, the container allegedly contains household goods and personal effects, whilst the scanned image appear to be of a luxury motor vehicle.

"This particular container arrived at the port last week from Britain in transit to Uganda. The supplier is a Ronnie Musisi, while the consignee is Robert Musisi," he said.

Musyoki said the container shall be subjected to 100 percent verification in due course as KRA reiterated its commitment to curtail illicit trade through all the points of entry. Endit