The brother of Machakos Governor Wavinya Ndeti, Vincent Somba Ndeti was on Friday arraigned alongside two others over multiple counts of tax fraud involving alleged false declarations, fictitious purchases, and under-declaration of income spanning several years.
The three accused persons, Vincent Somba Ndeti, Hellen Mueni Ndeti, and Sollenti International Limited, appeared before Milimani Senior Principal Magistrate Geoffrey Onsarigo and pleaded not guilty to all charges.
The prosecution alleges that the accused, being directors of Sollenti International Limited, jointly with others not before court, committed several offences of fraud in relation to tax contrary to Section 97(c) as read with Section 104(3) of the Tax Procedures Act, 2015.
According to the charge sheet, the trio is accused of knowingly making false statements in both income tax and Value Added Tax (VAT) returns over multiple years.
It is alleged that they made an incorrect statement in income tax returns for the year 2019 by claiming fictitious purchases amounting to Sh 2,090,960, thereby reducing their tax liability by Sh 782,586.
They are further accused that between February 2019 and January 2020, they made false declarations in VAT returns by claiming fictitious purchases of Sh 3,074,760, reducing VAT liability by Sh 491,962.
The court also heard that the accused under-declared income for the year 2020 while claiming fictitious purchases amounting to Sh 220,186,512, leading to a tax loss of Sh 55,702,119.
Further counts indicate that in 2020, they allegedly inflated purchase claims in their VAT filings to the tune of Sh 319,352,512, significantly reducing their tax obligations.
In the 2021 financial year, the trio is said to have under-declared income while declaring fictitious purchases amounting to Sh 345,923,639, resulting in a substantial loss of revenue.
In another instance covering the period between February 2021 and January 2022, the prosecution claims they filed misleading VAT returns by declaring non-existent purchases worth Sh 476,842,239, further lowering the payable tax.
For the 2022 income tax filings, the accused are similarly alleged to have claimed fictitious purchases amounting to Sh 125,885,230, which reduced their tax liability.
In the final count, the court heard that they under-declared income and exaggerated purchase claims in their 2022 VAT returns, with the disputed figures running into hundreds of millions and resulting in a significant tax shortfall.
The accused were released on a bond of Sh 3 million each or an alternative cash bail of Sh 500,000. The matter will be mentioned on April 9.
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