This archive report was first published on 16 August 2019.
On August 16, 2019, a British national, Aaron John Kitchener, appeared before Mombasa Chief Magistrate Edna Nyaloti, facing charges of failure to pay over Sh39 million in taxes.
According to the charges, Kitchener, a director at a security firm, failed to pay Value Added Tax (VAT) amounting to Sh5,578,181 and Pay As You Earn (PAYE) tax from salaries paid to management staff by the company, totaling Sh24,636,778.
Kitchener denied the charges, stating that he had not failed to pay the taxes on diverse dates between January 1, 2018, and July 20, 2019, and between January 1, 2015, and December 2018, respectively.
He was also accused of making incorrect statements to the commissioner of domestic taxes in 2018, amounting to 2.4 million for salaries.
The magistrate directed Kitchener to be released on a bond of Sh3 million and a similar Kenyan surety. He was also ordered to deposit his passport with the police and return to the court for a pre-trial conference on August 23.
Other British directors, including Gillespie Steven John, Gary Michael Lincoln, and Phillipe Storm, were summoned to appear in court on August 23 to plead to tax evasion charges.
Additionally, Uni Company directors George Zarya, Salil Ashad Patel, Ludovic Gunnar Harold Storm, Sunir Maheshkumar Doshi, Anish Maheshkumar Doshi, and Fredrich Gotz Constatine Zu Furstenburg were also summoned.
John Oduori Liyali, who was charged with economic crime, was released on a bond of Sh1 million after denying the charge of being found in possession of 10 rolls of exercise stamps made without the authority of the Kenya Revenue Authority.
