Fugitive Mary Wambui surrenders at Milimani court
Two Directors of Purma Holdings Limited Mary Wambui Mungai (right) and her daughter Purity Njoki Mungai before anti-corruption Court. They are accompanied by lawyer Nelson Havi.
Mary Wambui Mungai, the businesswoman wanted in the Sh2.2 billion tax evasion case, has presented herself at the Milimani anti-corruption court.
Ms Wambui surrendered hours after escaping a police dragnet at Weston Hotel where she was hiding alongside her daughter Purity Njoki Mungai.
The two escaped from the hotel a few minutes before the police and officers from the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) arrived to arrest them on Wednesday night.
Mary Wambui Mungai, the elusive woman in the Sh2.2 billion tax evasion case.
Upon searching the hotel premises, KRA officers and the police found personal belongings of the two including cash, bank cards and car keys.
The businesswoman and her daughter, both directors of Purma Holdings Limited, have since changed their lawyer from Mr Sylvanus Osoro to Nelson Havi.
They walked in court donning hijabs on Thursday morning.
The two are facing eight counts of knowingly and unlawfully omitting taxes due in the income tax returns submitted to the Commissioner for Domestic Taxes for the period between 2014 and 2016.
Lawyer Nelson Havi and businesswoman Mary Wambui Mungai and her daughter Purity Njoki Mungai at the Milimani Law Courts on December 9, 2021.
A warrant of arrest was issued for the two on December 6 after they failed to appear in the anti-corruption court before Chief Magistrate Felix Mutinda Kombo.
The two had also failed to honour summons to appear before KRA on December 3, 2021, to be informed of the charges against them and instead sent their accountant.
Through their former lawyer Mr Osoro, Ms Wambui had also told the court that she had been admitted at a city hospital since November 29 without providing medical documents as proof to her being unwell.
An attempt to have the arrest warrant lifted on Wednesday failed after the court declined to allow the request.
The two had made the request on grounds that Ms Wambui was on bed rest on the advice of doctors at Kiambu Level Five Hospital and that her daughter was her caregiver.
They face eight counts related to tax evasion which they have denied.
During the court appearance on Thursday, they requested to be released on a cash bail not exceeding Sh5 million each.
The prosecution, however, opposed the application saying Ms Wambui was a potential flight risk and a fugitive of justice. During Wednesday night's aborted arrest at Weston Hotel, police found a temporary permit for the Republic of Zambia in her bag.
The court will rule on the bail and bond application at noon.
