DPP wants action on KRA officer caught taking bribe

The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) has asked the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) to take administrative action against an officer who was caught taking a bribe.

The officer, based at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, is accused of colluding with officials of a global logistics firm to demand higher taxes for a laptop a Kenyan was receiving from a relative in the US, before asking for a Sh40,000 bribe to review the taxes downwards.

The DPP’s move followed an investigation by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC), which ended in July. The KRA official was caught up in the EACC’s sting operation as she sought the bribe, a report by the watchdog in the three months to September shows.

Imported goods

“The commission commenced investigation following a complaint that DHL and KRA officials were colluding to defraud unsuspecting Kenyans in a scheme where taxes were inflated to pave the way for negotiations of bribes before imported goods are released,” the report states.

It adds that the complainant in the case reported that after receiving the laptop from a cousin in the US, the complainant was instructed to pay import duty amounting to Sh100,974.

“The complainant later met the KRA officer, Customs and Border Control Department, who requested a bribe of Sh40,000 to review the amount of tax payable for the imported laptop downwards. The commission’s (EACC) officers carried out a trap operation that culminated in the arrest of the suspect after receiving trap money. Sh22,000 trap money was recovered from her,” the EACC report observes.

The anti-corruption agency forwarded the report to the DPP on July 10, with recommendations to charge the KRA official with two counts of receiving a bribe.

DHL was found not culpable for any wrongdoing.