KRA nabs illegal car import syndicate mastermind

The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) has made a breakthrough in cracking down on the illegal vehicle import and registration syndicate, with the arrest of the suspected kingpin.

The suspect, whose name KRA did not immediately disclose, was nabbed on the Kenya-Uganda border on Thursday trying to leave the country.

“Directorate of Criminal Investigation (DCI) and KRA sleuths have been on the suspect’s trail in connection with the ongoing investigation into the irregular importation and registration of 121 vehicles whose registration was cancelled last week,” KRA Deputy Commissioner for Communication Grace Wander said.

The suspect and his accomplice will be arraigned in court this morning.

Just last week KRA de registered 121 vehicles on tax evasion and fraudulent registration concerns.

This was after failed attempts to have the car owners present their vehicles for inspection by both the KRA and the National Transport and Safety Authority.

Illegal vehicle importation and registration has become a major challenge for the taxman with hundreds of vehicles failing to have requisite taxes paid.

Earlier in the year, KRA impounded three Range Rovers worth Sh28 million concealed in a cargo container, which had been declared as household goods while on transit to Uganda.

The vehicle import and registration syndicate has been altering records of cars, especially those beyond the eight year import limit, in a move motivated at sidestepping KRA.

This has seen KRA lose billions in revenues from the imported cars.

A recent investigation found that most of the cars that end up in the local market are stolen overseas, while others are diverted to the local market on transit to other countries.

KRA and NTSA have been investigating whether some of their staff members may be involved in the illegal scheme.

KRA has expanded its surveillance to the hundreds of car bazaars in the country tracing vehicles that may have been imported or registered illegally.

The taxman has in the past said that the uncontrolled mushrooming of car bazaars in the country had fueled the illegal importation of stolen vehicles to meet demand.

On Thursday, KRA impounded a high value Land Rover Discovery from one of the car bazaars with the taxman expected to make more arrests in the coming weeks.