Nyeri businessman charged with Sh1.8 million tax evasion

Nyeri Law Courts. [File, Standard]

A businessman has been charged with tax evasion amounting to Sh1.8 million.

Mr Shawn Mwangi Mwachofi, the proprietor of Kaliyahz Bizhub Investments, appeared before the Nyeri Law Courts where he faced nine counts of tax fraud contrary to various sections of the Tax Procedures Act, 2015.

He was jointly charged alongside his company, Kaliyahz Bizhub Investments, with several offences including failure to declare and pay income taxes, failure to register for Value Added Tax (VAT), and failure to submit annual tax returns.

According to the prosecution, Mr Mwachofi’s company had met the threshold for VAT registration between 2016 and 2017, but the proprietor deliberately failed to register as required under Section 34(1)(a) of the Value Added Tax Act.

The omission allegedly led to a tax loss of Sh1,162,530, representing the VAT that the business ought to have charged and remitted to the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) during that period.

Further investigations by KRA officers revealed that the accused knowingly and unlawfully omitted income totaling Sh2,881,995 from his Pay As You Earn (PAYE) tax returns for the years 2013, 2015, 2016, and 2017.

This omission, prosecutors said, resulted in an additional loss of Sh596,171 to the taxman. The total tax loss occasioned by the alleged offences stands at Sh1,758,701.

In court, Mr Mwachofi denied all nine counts of tax fraud and pleaded not guilty before Senior Resident Magistrate Ismael Imoleit. He was released on a bond of Sh300,000, with an alternative of a cash bail, pending the full hearing and determination of the case.

The matter will be mentioned on November 25, 2025, when the prosecution is expected to confirm the readiness of witnesses and submission of documentary evidence.

Should the accused be found guilty, he could face stiff penalties under the Tax Procedures Act, 2015, which prescribes a fine of up to Sh10 million or double the amount of tax evaded, whichever is higher.

Alternatively, the offender could be sentenced to imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years.