Ex-Keroche CEO, Tabitha Karanja Faces Arrest in Sh14B Tax Case

A Nairobi court on Wednesday ordered the arrest of Nakuru Senator Tabitha Karanja over the failure to attend proceedings for the hearing of her Sh14 billion tax evasion case.

According to Senior Principal Magistrate Esther Kimilu, the matter was scheduled for hearing, but the former boss of Keroche, Ms. Karanja, did not attend.

“The accused person knew that the matter was listed for hearing today (Wednesday) and failed to attend. I hereby discharge the two witnesses before court today and proceed to issue a warrant of arrest against the accused person,” Mrs. Kimilu ordered.

Ms. Karanja, however, said she became aware of the warrant for her arrest through media reports.

“Both ourselves and KRA have no information to the contrary. It is critical that these important ADR processes are not undermined by lack of coordination and communication by the various authorities charged with managing this matter,” said Ms Karanja.

The desire to restore much-needed stability in the business environment, according to Ms. Karanja, makes it imperative that the issue be resolved quickly and amicably for the benefit of all parties.

The Nakuru Senator was given 45 days to settle the case outside of court with the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) after she refuted the Sh14 billion tax evasion claims in April.

The matter was set for hearing on Wednesday, and state prosecutor Ann Munyua informed the court that she had two witnesses prepared to testify.

The prosecutor requested that the witnesses be excused from testifying and urged the court to issue a warrant for Ms. Karanja’s arrest.

After the prosecution revised the initial allegations and removed her husband, Joseph Karanja, from the case, Ms. Karanja was charged with 10 counts of tax fraud.

She was also charged with providing false information for the period of January 2017 to December 2017, which resulted in a Sh3.6 billion increase in the due excise duty.