This archive report was first published on 22 August 2019.
On August 22, 2019, a storm erupted in the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) over allegations of forgery. Wow Beverages Limited, a company owned by billionaire businessman Humphrey Kariuki, claimed that the DPP had forged a court order to stop the company from operating its accounts and used fake documents to bring up charges of tax evasion amounting to Sh41 billion.
According to lawyer Benjamin Musyoki, the DPP had previously made an application to freeze the accounts but the court declined to issue the order. Musyoki accused the DPP of bringing up the charges despite being aware that the firm had complied with all tax obligations and even supplied the Kenya Revenue Authority with a tax compliance certificate when investigators requested for the information.
Chief Magistrate Francis Andayi directed the company to make a formal application to allow the DPP to respond to the allegations. The hearing is set to commence on September 5.
