Billionaire Humphrey Kariuki was on Monday, October 14, afforded a sigh of relief when High Court judge Justice Luca Kimaru ruled to have bank accounts linked to him unfrozen.
Kariuki's bank accounts had been frozen following investigations over Ksh41 billion tax evasion claims along with eight other members of his board.
Justice Luka Kimaru, in his judgment, stated that the DCI lacked jurisdiction to probe matters related to tax. He added that KRA was the only institution mandated by the Constitution to undertake matters relating to tax.
“It is evident that there was an element of jurisdictional overreach by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations on matters which are statutorily under the jurisdiction of the Asset Recovery Authority and the Kenya Revenue Authority,” added the judge.
The court ruled that the orders issued by the DCI to freeze bank accounts of the companies linked to billionaire Humphrey Kariuki were illegal.
“The application filed by the Respondents before the Kiambu Chief Magistrate’s Court in Kiambu Chief Magistrate’s Court Miscellaneous Criminal Case No.367 of 2019 is hereby brought to this court for the purposes of revision. The same is revised as it was filed in breach of the law. That application is ordered dismissed,” Justice Kimaru ruled.
In September 2019, DPP Haji solicited orders to freeze accounts belonging to Humphrey Kariuki. The DPP argued that they needed access to the bank accounts in order to facilitate investigation on account of failure to pay tax.
The court ruled in favour of Africa Spirits Limited stating that its lawyer Cecil Miller had enough proof to ascertain that other companies associated with Kariuki that had their accounts illegally frozen were never served with the order as required.
“That was in clear breach to the fair trial provisions of the Constitution specifically Article 50(2) that requires them to be informed of any adverse action that may be taken against them,” the court ruled.
Kariuki's lawyer, Cecil Miller told the court that the police or officers from the office of the DCI had no role to play in investigating the matter purely under the commissioner of income tax.
The court was compelled to uphold an order requesting that bank accounts of companies associated with Kariuki be unfrozen.
