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Keroche Breweries Limited CEO Tabitha Karanja was Thursday, April 13 charged afresh in Ksh14.5 billion tax evasion case against her.

Appearing before Milimani senior principal magistrate Esther Kimilu, Tabitha, who is the Nakuru Senator, pleaded a fresh to the 13 tax-related charges after the Office of Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) amended the charge sheet against her by adding some particulars.

“We are seeking to amend the charge sheet with different dates from the previous one. No witness has so far testified in the matter,” the prosecution informed the court.

The magistrate allowed the request and ordered the Keroche boss to plead to the fresh charges of fraud in relation to tax levelled against her by the state.

In count one, Tabitha denied that on diverse dates between February 20, 2015, and January 20, 2016, within the Republic of Kenya, being a director of Keroche Breweries Limited and a liability company, knowingly made incorrect statements in excise duty for the period January 2015 to December 2015.

She is accused of declaring production volumes of 820,602 litres and misapplication of excise duty rates on Vienna Ice by using Ksh 27.06 instead of Ksh 175 thereby reducing the excise liability by Ksh 1,855,403,900 payable to the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) as required by the Excise Duty Act No.23 of 2015.

According to the charge sheet, the Senator is also accused of making incorrect statements for January 2017 to December 2017 which affected their payable excise duty by Ksh3.6 billion.

The prosecution further alleges that between February 20, 2019, and January 20, 2019, she unlawfully omitted from the firm’s VAT returns for January to December amounting to Ksh196 million.

Tabitha pleads with court

Tabitha through her lawyers urged the court to be granted more time to resolve the matter with KRA outside the court.

But, Irene Muthee, a KRA officer, informed the magistrate that there had been no out-of-court agreement yet received at their office.

Consequently, Magistrate Kimilu granted Keroche 45 days to begin the out-of-court settlement process, failure to which the case will go to a full trial on July 21, 2023.

On Wednesday, the prosecution protested the delay occasioned in the case since Tabitha was first arraigned in court in 2018 together with her husband.

In the case, her husband Joseph Karanja was removed from the case after the DPP withdrew charges against him due to his health condition in December 2022.