Two arrested over tax stamps forgery

Two people, including a woman suspected of forging Rwanda Revenue Authority tax stamps, have been arrested. The duo includes a woman who owns a shop that sells alcohol in Remera, Kigali, and her brother who works with her. Grace Uwizeye and Jean Bosco Habyarimana were caught with 11 cartons of liquor worth Rwf100, 000 bearing forged tax stamps, Police said. They feigned ignorance. “I bought the liquor but I could not differentiate a counterfeit stamp from an original one. We admit that fault, we will not do this again,” said Uwizeye. Although both suspects claimed they can’t differentiate the stamps, Robert Mugabe, deputy commissioner of revenue investigation and enforcement department at Rwanda Revenue Authority, dismissed the claim. “They are manufacturing clandestinely. Since the manufacturer is not registered, the stamps must be forged. They should have refused to buy the beer in the first place,” he said. Rwanda Revenue Authority started to use the stamps for liquors in 2013. Since then, 2000 cartons of counterfeit gins were impounded. According to the penal code, those who counterfeit stamps or other equivalent documents of the same value are liable to an imprisonment of five to seven years and a fine of 300, 000 to three million Rwandan Francs. editorial@newtimes.co.rw

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Two arrested over tax stamps forgery