Wealthy Kenyans return Sh118bn stashed abroad

Wealthy Kenyans filed to return Sh118 billion assets from foreign countries in the final year of a tax pardon, official data shows.

The value was declared for repatriation in the period ended June 2019 after the Treasury extended the amnesty process by a year.

The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) received 3,543 amnesty applications in the period, a report submitted to the National Assembly’s Committee on Finance and National Planning shows.

In extending the time for declaring and returning the riches stashed abroad, suspended Treasury secretary Henry Rotich had cited lack of clarity on whether the cash repatriated home should be subjected to provisions of Proceeds of Crime and Anti-Money Laundering Act.

That law requires persons transacting Sh1 million and more to declare the source of their wealth to the Financial Reporting Centre, the anti-money laundering agency.

“The amnesty was extended for a further year and assurance given that once the money is transferred, there will be no follow-up on the source of the funds,” KRA says in the report.