Four suspects linked to the production and sale of counterfeit alcohol were on Friday, January 6 arrested in Kiambaa, Kiambu county.
In a statement, the four; Stephen Ngugi, Amos Maina, James Nyaga and George Kariuki were taken to police custody after being caught in possession of a consignment of alcoholic drinks affixed with counterfeit KRA stamps following a raid.
During the operation, police also recovered counterfeit alcoholic products including Trace Vodka and Chrome Vodka alongside chemicals used to make the drinks and a roll of fake KRA stamps.
“One roll of counterfeit KRA stamps, distillation equipment and chemicals used in the production of counterfeit alcoholic drinks were seized. Bottles of counterfeited alcoholic products including Trace Vodka and the popular Chrome Vodka were also recovered,” part of the statement read.
The ongoing crackdown follows a recent directive by President William Ruto to the police, to conduct intelligence-led operations targeting counterfeit goods saying this was one of the ways crooked businessmen had devised to evade taxation.
In October the Head of State directed KRA to collect Ksh3 trillion in the next financial year.
Speaking during the annual Taxpayers’ month at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC) on Friday, October 28, 2022, the Head of State also affirmed that his administration was prepared to implement changes at the agency to maximize efficient and effective tax collection.
“We should be able to collect enough money. Our Growth Domestic Product (GDP) has risen Ksh12 trillion yet KRA only raised about 14 per cent of GDP in revenues last year. In the past, KRA was able to raise 18 per cent of GDP. If we collect the same target today, we would have raised an extra 4 hundred billion shillings. In that case, I expect KRA to collect 3 trillion in the next financial year,” the head of state said.
