Manish Bheriyani, director of a prominent supermarket chain in Uganda, has acknowledged his involvement in a tax fraud case amounting to 8.6 billion Ugandan shillings. This admission was made before Senior Principal Grade One Magistrate Abert Asiimwe on March 23, 2024. Bheriyani, residing in Kololo Hill Drive, Kampala, pleaded guilty to eight counts of providing false information to a tax officer.
During the court proceedings, Davis Lomuria, the legal officer representing Uganda Revenue Authority (URA), disclosed that Bheriyani, associated with Jazz Supermarkets, opted for a plea bargain. As part of the agreement, he committed to paying 395 million shillings in taxes. Additionally, Bheriyani was fined 48 million shillings, with the provision that failure to comply would result in a one-year imprisonment.
Magistrate Asiimwe apprised Bheriyani of the potential consequences had he undergone a full trial and been convicted under section 58(1)(a) of the Tax Procedures Code Act of 2014. The fine could have amounted to 110 million shillings. Asiimwe issued a stern warning, urging Bheriyani to take tax obligations seriously. The magistrate cautioned that any future transgressions would be met with harsher penalties, indicating a lack of respect for the law.
Bheriyani admitted to the charges, acknowledging that on December 22, 2021, at Bugolobi, Nakawa Division, he submitted falsified value-added tax returns, falsely claiming sales of goods worth 909 million shillings. Similar false claims were made for subsequent months, including January and February 2022, where Bheriyani reported inaccurate sales figures totaling billions of shillings.
The prosecution detailed instances where Bheriyani knowingly submitted false tax returns, misrepresenting sales figures to tax authorities. These deceptive practices spanned several months, with Bheriyani consistently inflating sales numbers to evade tax liabilities.
