A firm associated with billionaire businessman Humphrey Kariuki now wants the court to lift an order on the freezing of its bank account after the tycoon was accused of tax evasion.
The firm has accused the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) of dragging its name into the issue. The company wants preservation of the order against it with immediate effect.
The firm, Africa Spirits Limited (ASL), through its lawyer Cecil Miller has appealed to the court to consider it in the case against the tycoon after the DPP noted that Kariuki has a case to answer.
While appearing before High Court Judge Luka Kimaru, Miller appealed to the court to consider the welfare of the workers at the company who have not been paid their salaries following the order to freeze the firm's accounts.
“This amounts to forum shopping and an abuse of the court process. The order sought for the preservation of funds in the company’s accounts was mischievous and irregularly obtained in Kiambu and served on banks but not on the bank account owners,” said Miller, as quoted by the Standard.
The firm said that the DPP had been given orders to access the accounts only for him to order their freezing. Miller said that the firm feels unfairly targeted in the war against tax evasion. The firm wants the DPP stopped from denying them access to the funds, arguing that it will affect its operations.