The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) lost estimated revenue of Sh100 million at the port of Mombasa due to custom fraud between the month of June and July this year.
In a statement signed by KRA Commissioner General John Njiraini, KRA said the scam came to light during a recent routine reconciliation exercise by the custom staff.
The scam involved the removal of containers from the port without payment of taxes, with initial findings indicating that 104 containers were removed from the port without paying taxes.
The statement went on to say that preliminary findings point to collusion between importers, their agents, transport service providers and the KRA and KPA staff Involved in cargo release.
KRA said the staff from both KRA and KPA believed to have played a role in the scheme have seen been suspended and further investigations instituted to determine their culpability.
Operations are also in progress to impound 29 trucks identified to have ferried the cargo out of the port.
The latest scheme comes amid increased cases of tax evasion in the port of Mombasa; a racket that has seen several custom officers suspended as efforts to counter customs fraud intensify.
Njiraini further said that the authorities (KRA and KPA) are jointly addressing system weaknesses identified as having contributed to the runaway cases of tax evasion.
Source : Citizen
