- She, however, expressed her disappointment with the prosecution for bringing only two witnesses when she had taken out all matters to hear the case.
- "I am not happy that the prosecution only called two witnesses," the magistrate said.
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A Sh14.5 billion tax evasion case against former Keroche CEO Tabitha Karanja was on Monday adjourned to November 16 after the prosecution failed to produce more witnesses.
Milimani senior principal magistrate Esther Kimilu was forced to adjourn the case after two witnesses testified in the case.
She, however, expressed her disappointment with the prosecution for bringing only two witnesses when she had taken out all matters to hear the case.
"I am not happy that the prosecution only called two witnesses. I needed three to four witnesses because I had a whole day to hear the case. It's an old matter which I need to conclude," the magistrate said.
Kimilu urged the prosecution to be kind and respect the courts.
"I was free today because I had taken off all matters just to hear this case. Give me a date you think am idle to listen to this case except Tuesday and Friday," she added.
One of the witnesses who testified was cross-examined and another one was an official from KRA.
In her testimony before the court, Fridah Miano, a License officer from KRA produced licenses that had been paid by the Keroche company.
Miano said that an official KRA representative who issued the license to Tabitha and the company in 2016 was Gideon Mwiti.
She added that the licenses do not expire they continue to serve until it's cancelled.
"Licenses can be cancelled if there is fraud or the taxpayer is in bankruptcy, " she told the court.
On cross-examination, the KRA officer said she was not aware the accused person's licenses had been cancelled since she left the department.
Before I left, the licenses of Keroche had not been cancelled.
The hearing continues on November 16.
According to the charge sheet, the accused and the company on dates between February 20, 2015, and January 20, 2016, unlawfully made incorrect statements in their excise duty returns by reducing their duty by Sh1.8 billion.
She allegedly also made incorrect statements for the January to December 2017 returns, which affected payable excise duty by Sh3.6 billion.
According to the prosecution, between February 20 and July 20, the accused unlawfully omitted from their VAT returns for January to June affecting their VAT liability by Sh196 million.
Tabitha was also accused of under-declaring production volumes by 820,601 litres and misapplication of excise duty rates on Vienna Ice by using Sh27.06 instead of Sh175, thereby reducing her excise duty liability by Sh1, 855, 403, 900 payable to the commissioner as required by the Excise Duty Act.