Tabitha Karanja, Husband Released on Bail

Keroche Breweries' Tabitha Karanja and Joseph Karanja have been released on Ksh10 Million and Ksh2 million cash bails respectively, to be paid within the next 7 days.

Chief Magistrate Francis Andayi also ordered them to deposit their passports in court.

He made it clear that apart from bail terms being their right, the other factors that made him consider it was that the couple had attended court as requested and also due to Karanja's health.

 

The arrest of Mr Karanja.

The magistrate joked that he did not want the Keroche chairman to 'meet his maker' because he failed to post his bail and thus, blame him for it.

The company (Keroche Breweries) has also been ordered to pay Ksh15 million within seven days.

Chief Magistrate Andayi made it clear that if they fail to post bail, all the members of Keroche's Board of Directors would be arrested, except for the second accused, Karanja, on health grounds.

The couple were represented by Senior Counsel James Orengo while the state was represented by Bernard Muteti.

They denied all the 10 counts levelled against them after Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) accused them of evading Sh Ksh14.5 billion in taxes.

Chief Magistrate Andayi explained that the bail terms were necessitated by the gravity of the accusations and public interest in the matter.

The matter will be mentioned on September 2, with a pretrial set for September 24, before Senior Principal Magistrate Martha Mutuku.

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