The United Kingdom government has issued a high alert for one its most wanted tax fraud criminals, Gareth Johnson, said to be hiding in Kenya's coastal city of Mombasa.
Johnson is accused of fleecing the UK government out of Billions of shillings in taxes and is believed to have fled his homeland before prosecution.
"Gareth Johnson, 50, is one of the United Kingdom’s most wanted tax fugitives. Gareth and his father Geoffrey Johnson, both originally from Forfar in Scotland, were part of an-18-person crime gang.
"He was due to stand trial in England for a multi-million-pound tax fraud in 2013 but he did not attend court. He was sentenced to twelve years in prison in his absence. He is on-the-run," read the newspaper advert which ran on Daily Nation.
[caption caption="Newspaper notice on the wanted UK fugitive Gareth Johnson"]
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The suspect was further ordered by the UK court to pay up 109 Million Pounds to the HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) or face an extra 14 years in jail and still pay the sum.
The fugitive's father was arrested in Dubai in July of 2017 where he had travelled to on a fake passport from Mombasa.
The revenue authority extradited the suspect from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) city and was later charged and sentenced at the UK court.
A witness who spoke on the kind of life the Johnson's lived attested that the kind of wealth they had was unbelievable.
"He bought top-of-the-range Bentleys, Ferraris and Porsches and had them parked everywhere. I don’t know how he chose what to drive.
"When they weren’t using their cars, they were getting flown around in their helicopter. It was a different world," the witness stated.
[caption caption="Geoffrey Johnson"]
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"Gareth should be in jail for 26 years. He should pay back a lot of money. We think he could be in East Africa, possibly Kenya or Tanzania," stated the HMRC.
The tax authority further stated that there would be a financial reward for anyone who may have information on the suspect's whereabouts.
