Former KEBS MD Ongwae denies charges, freed on bond

Former Kenya Bureau of Standards Chief Executive officer Charles Ongwae was on Wednesday charged with abuse of office and conspiracy to deny the government revenue.

Ongwae alongside 14 others were charged with 31 counts of tax evasion said to have cost the government Ksh 64 million.

He however denied the charges and was released on a Ksh 500,000 bond.

Appearing before Nairobi Senior Principal Magistrate Kennedy Cheruiyot, the former Kenya Bureau of standards Chief Executive officer Charles Ongwae denied charges of tax evasion.

The former KEBS boss who is not new to controversy is accused of unlawfully authorizing the waiver of penalty for import goods.

The prosecution claims two importers Gendipe Enterprises and Rupai trading limited,concealed imported goods with the aim of evading tax. He denied the charges and was released on a 500,000 shillings bond.

The court further ordered him to present himself before the investigating officer at the Directorate of Criminal Investigations on Monday to record a statement.

The case is set to be mentioned on January 23 this year.

In Spetember last year, Ongwae was arrested alongside 32 top officials from the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA), Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) and the Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS) for permitting into the market a consignment of substandard rice.

Meanwhile, a Kiambu court has released a blogger who was arrested in connection with the circulation of a ‘fake’ sex tape of Wajir Women Representative Fatuma Gedi.

The Director of Public Prosecution through state counsel Donex Ongila, informed the court which was presided by resident magistrate Rita Orora, that  Douglas Mbaya be released since he was no longer a person of interest.

The prosecution further said that they did not intend to pursue charges against him but they were still in pursuit of more suspects.