Police in Kigali are holding a businessman, Straton Mvukiyehe, a resident of Rulindo District, Northern Province for allegedly evading taxes worth Rwf1.5bn since 2013.

According to Police, the controversy started with the registration of the suspect’s business, Super Décor Ltd, in his maternal aunt and uncle’s names, without their knowledge.

"He didn’t stop at that, he went ahead to lie about transactions so he could get a Value Added Tax (VAT) refund from Rwanda Revenue Authority (RRA) by presenting fake invoices,” said  Drocelle Mukashyaka,  the RRA Deputy Commissioner for Taxpayer Services department.

She added that further analysis revealed that Mvukiyehe had submitted non-existent Tax Identification Numbers (TIN) of companies he had transacted business with, prompting his arrest on Thursday.

  Supt. Modeste Mbabazi, the Police spokesperson for Kigali, said the accused is likely to face two charges, namely making and using counterfeit documents and tax evasion.

 Any person who knowingly, uses a counterfeit document is liable to the same penalty as a person counterfeiting a document, according to the Penal Code.

A taxpayer who is found guilty of tax evasion shall be liable to a term of imprisonment of at least three months but less than six months and a fine equal to the evaded tax.

If the taxpayer is guilty of deliberate tax evasion, such as false deliberate accounting entries, forgery and falsification of records or any other act punishable by law, they  shall be liable to a term of imprisonment of between six months and two years and a fine equal to the evaded tax.

Last November, a Kigali businessman, Celestin Bimenyimana, was arrested in connection with fraud involving about Rwf62 million in tax evasion for a consignment of imported rice.

The consignment, from Pakistan, entered the country under the category of transit goods, ended up on the Rwandan market without being taxed after Bimenyimana allegedly connived with other people, among them, a customs official in Rubavu District.