The United States Justice Department. PHOTO | COURTESY
KENYAN BUSINESSMAN IN US STARES AT 40 YEARS IN PRISON OVER TAX FRAUD
By AGGREY OMBOKI
A Kenyan doing business in Kansas City, Kansas, faces close to 40 years in prison after a United States federal grand jury indicted him of fraud in tax returns preparations to the government and obtaining US citizenship through false presentations, among other federal crimes.
Mr Geoffrey Rotich, a promising and successful businessmen in America’s midwestern state, was accused of tax evasion-related criminal charges ranging from aiding and assisting other individuals in the preparation and presentation of fraudulent returns.
This is according to news posted on the Department of Justice website, in its “Justice News” section.
A Department of Justice report says Mr Rotich, who lived in the posh city of Shawnee Mission, was also indicted for making a false bankruptcy declaration, giving false testimony under oath in connection with a bankruptcy matter and unlawful procurement of citizenship or naturalisation.
The criminal indictments were presented by US Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney-General Caroline D Ciraolo, head of the Justice Department’s Tax Division, and Acting US Attorney Thomas E Beall of the District of Kansas.
The indictment, filed early last month but unsealed last week, sent shock-waves across Kansas and nearby Kansas City Missouri, Grandview, Independence and Missouri cities, and among Kenyans in Shawnee, Ovaland Park and Lenexa cities in Kansas.