UK Offers Financial Reward for Information on Tax Fugitive Hiding in Nairobi

The United Kingdom tax agency, HN Revenue and Customs (HMRC), is hunting down for a British tax fugitive who it believes is hiding in Kenya's capital city, Nairobi.

HMRC on Friday called on anyone with information on the whereabouts of Gareth Johnson, a fugitive who has links in East Africa, especially Nairobi, Mombasa and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania to report to authorities.

HMRC, in a paid advertisement in Kenyan newspaper, Daily Nation on Friday described Johnson as one of UK’s most sought after tax fugitives.

The 49-year-old was scheduled to face trial in England for multi-million pound tax fraud in 2013. He declined to turn up in the court and was handed a12 years sentence in prison in his absence.

Gareth and his father had in 2016 directed by the UK courts to repay Sh15 billion (109 million pounds) of their criminal proceeds or face an extra 14 year jail term.

Gareth’s father was arrested in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates in July, 2017 after he travelled to Middle East from Mombasa on a fake passport.He was later extradited to the UK and he is now in jail following assistance from the Kenyan authorities.

"If you have any information about his whereabouts, you can contact UK HMRC and you may get financial reward for your information," the advert on Daily Nation read.