How DCI Planted Spies to Bust Corruption Cartels at KRA

On Friday, at least 40 KRA officials had been arrested in what was the biggest bust of corruption cartels in the institution.

Details have now emerged of how investigative agencies planted spies at the tax collection body to gather intelligence and inform on corrupt dealings in the agency.

A report by the Standard indicated that KRA had put out a call out for 2,000 workers to work in various departments.

It is the selection process that gave investigators the opportunity to plant spies in KRA. 

According to the publication, the recruits were at the centre of providing information on illegal dealings by senior and middle-level employees at the agency.

"An intimate information relaying system, sometimes as simple as word of mouth or seemingly harmless phone call to their handlers or forwarded mobile money transfer message was enough to tell on their colleagues," the Standard noted.

According to reports, some employees, fearing arrest, left the office and clocked in again in the afternoon only for them to be nabbed in a second raid by the security agencies.

In a statement on Friday, DPP Noordin Haji disclosed that his office received intelligence information indicating that a number of KRA staff have been colluding with certain taxpayers in a criminal enterprise to evade payment of taxes.

"Following the receipt of the intelligence information, I directed the Director of Criminal Investigations (DCI) to immediately launch investigations of both KRA staff and their co-conspirators," he divulged.

Haji noted that the criminal scheme had over a period of time occasioned a reduction in tax collection by KRA.

The raid conducted coincidentally occurred a day after the official retirement of outgoing commissioner general John Njiraini.

“Investigations into the rackets have been in progress for the last four months, with covert assistance provided by national law enforcement agencies to help in trailing money and communication,” Njiraini stated.

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