Wavinya Ndeti's brother, sister-in-law charged over Sh387million tax fraud

Wavinya Ndeti's brother Vincent Somba Ndeti and Hellen Mueni Ndeti appeared before the court on March 27, 2026. [Nancy Gitonga, Standard]

Relatives of Machakos Governor Wavinya Ndeti have been charged before a Nairobi court over an alleged tax fraud scheme amounting to Sh387 million.

Vincent Somba Ndeti, the governor’s brother, and her sister-in-law, Hellen Mueni Ndeti, a nominated Machakos MCA and Secretary for Diaspora Affairs, appeared on Friday before Milimani Magistrate Geoffery Onsarigo, where they denied eight counts of fraud in relation to a tax scheme.

The charges brought by the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) against them stem from investigations conducted by the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA), which allege that the accused engaged in deliberate misstatements in both Income Tax and Value Added Tax (VAT) returns between 2019 and 2022.

According to the prosecution, Somba and Mueni, who were directors of Sollenti International Limited at the time, orchestrated a scheme involving fictitious purchases and under-declaration of income in a bid to reduce the company’s tax liability.

“The accused persons, jointly with others not before the court, knowingly and unlawfully made incorrect statements in their tax returns, thereby reducing their tax liability,” the prosecution told the court.

Court documents indicate that in one of the counts, the accused falsely claimed purchases worth over Sh3 million in their 2019 VAT returns, resulting in a tax reduction of nearly Sh500,000.

In another count, they are accused of under-declaring income and inflating expenses by over Sh220 million in their 2020 income tax filings, leading to a tax loss exceeding Sh55 million.

The prosecution further stated that the scheme was sustained over multiple years.

“For the 2021 tax period, the accused claimed fictitious purchases exceeding Sh345 million and under-declared income by more than Sh52 million, reducing tax liability by nearly Sh120 million,” the court heard.

It is alleged that the fraudulent declarations continued into 2022, with inflated purchase claims and suppressed income declarations resulting in further loss of revenue.

In total, the State estimates that the alleged fraudulent activities led to a cumulative tax loss of Sh387,390,338.

The court also heard that the accused persons were initially directors of Sollenti International Limited before later transferring directorship to one Peter Mbuthia Wambugu, who is now listed as the current director.

An arrest warrant was issued against Wambugu after he failed to appear in court for plea taking as earlier summoned.

Through their lawyer, the accused denied any wrongdoing and distanced themselves from the company’s current operations.

“The accused are no longer directors of Sollenti International Limited and should not plead on behalf of the company,” the defence submitted.

The defence further argued that the two are not flight risks, noting that they had previously been released on police cash bail of Sh100,000 and had complied with all summons issued by investigators.

“The first accused, Somba, resides in the United States but has consistently honoured summons by officers since 2022,” the lawyer told the court, opposing a prosecution request to have him deposit his passport in court.

After hearing both sides, Magistrate Onsarigo granted each of the accused a bond of Sh3 million or an alternative cash bail of Sh500,000 with two contact persons

The case will be mentioned on April 9, 2026, for further directions.