Billionaire businessman Humphrey Kariuki has been charged with tax evasion on Monday.
Mr Kariuki, who was present in court, is said to have jetted into the country Monday morning, more than a week after an arrest warrant was issued against him.
The prosecution has presented three files.
In the first file, the accused are charged with nine counts relating to tax evasion amounting to Sh17 billion.
Mr Kariuki, Wow Beverages directors Stuart Gerald Herd and Robert Thinji Muriithi, and Africa Spirits Directors Peter Njenga Kuria and Geoffrey Kaaria Kinoti Mbombua are facing a total of 21 counts of tax evasion and being in possession of counterfeit excise duty stamps.
Mr Kariuki’s lawyer Kioko Kilukumi has pleaded that the tycoon be freed on bond saying he is not a flight risk.
However, the plea had been objected by the prosecution saying he was yet to be processed by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI).
Mr Vincent Monda said the prosecution also needs to look at his passports — a Kenyan and European Union one — to verify if he could be a flight risk.
Mr Kariuki, through his lawyer, told the court that he flies with a Kenyan passport and holds a Cyprus passport.
He further said he is not a director of Africa Spirits but an investor through a corporate body.
