Chinese man handed 4-year jail term in Ksh.74.7M tax evasion case

A Chinese national has been sentenced to four years in prison after being found guilty of four counts of tax evasion and fraud, totalling Ksh.74,627,410.

Cai Ronggui, the beneficial owner of Yiyuan Trading Company Limited, received the sentence from Milimani Court Magistrate Bernard Ochoi on Friday.

The charges, filed in court in December 2021, stemmed from Ronggui’s failure to declare both income tax and Value Added Tax (VAT) for the years 2018 and 2019.

Ronggui, who denied the charges, had been out on bail throughout the trial.

During the hearing, the court was informed that Yiyuan Trading Company Limited generated income in both 2018 and 2019, totaling Ksh.162,233,500.

However, Ronggui unlawfully and intentionally failed to declare the same to the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA), thereby evading taxes.

In 2018, the company earned Ksh.60,453,000 but failed to declare it, resulting in a tax liability of Ksh. 18,135,900. In 2019, the company’s earnings amounted to Ksh.101,780,500, with an unpaid income tax liability of Ksh.30,534,150.

Additionally, the company failed to declare VAT for both years, leading to further tax liabilities of Ksh.9,672,480 in 2018 and Ksh.16,284,880 in 2019.