Charles Ongwae in court, Former KEBS boss released on bail

Former KEBS managing director Charles Ongwae was on Thursday arraigned in Milimani court on charges of fraud.

Ongwae was charged with abuse of office and defrauding the government Ksh 64.9 million in taxes. It’s alleged that Ongwae colluded with three companies in undervaluing the worth of imported goods leading to the massive losses.

Former Kebs managing director(Daily Nation) Pulse Live Kenya

According to the prosecution, Gendipe Enterprises and Rupai Trading Ltd together with their clearing agent Landmark Freight Services Ltd concealed the goods imported from Dubai in order to evade paying taxes.

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Ongwae, however, denied all the charges before the Senior Principal Magistrate Kennedy Cheruiyot and was released on a Ksh 500, 000 bond or 300,000 cash bail.

The case will be mentioned on the 23^rd of January. He is also required to appear before the Director of Criminal Investigations (DCI) to record a statement on January 7.

This is just one of the several accusations facing the former KEBS boss. Eric Chesire (quality assurance director), Martin Nyakiamo (regional manager Coast), Pole Mwangeni (port health officer) and Peter Kinyanjui the inspection manager at Kilindini were also arrested alongside Ongwae.