LIBERIA PROBES DISAPPEARANCE OF $100 MILLION IN NEW BANK NOTES.

Monrovia, LIBERIA:

Liberia banned 15 officials including a former central bank governor from leaving the country as it searches for about $100 million in cash, or the equivalent of almost one-fifth of its budget, that was printed abroad and disappeared after arriving at the port.

Liberia's Former Central Bank Governor Milton Weeks.
Image: GNN.

Former Governor Milton Weeks and a deputy governor for operations, Charles Sirleaf, a son of ex-President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, are persons of interest in the probe into the missing bank notes, as well as several police officers, according to a statement from the communications ministry. Weeks resigned in March after holding the position for about two years.

Liberia's former deputy governor for operations, Charles Sirleaf, a son of ex-President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.

Elected as president in January, retired soccer star George Weah has pledged to fight corruption in the West African nation that was hit by the Ebola crisis only a decade after the end of a protracted civil war. The vote marked Liberia’s first democratic transition of power between different political parties since 1944.

George Weah, the current President of Republic of Liberia.
Image: Getty.

The Liberian government has requested the United States’ Department of Treasury and Federal Bureau of Investigation(FBI) to help in the ongoing probe.

The government’s request to its major traditional ally comes less than three days after news about the disappearance of a container full of Liberian dollars sent shock waves across the country, also grabbing the attention of several international media.

On Wednesday, September 19 the Ministry of Justice in a statement signed by Minister Frank Musah Dean, said that “the investigation is for the purpose of adequately accounting for all flows of monies printed and brought into the country between 2016 and 2018”.

This means, the investigation will now look into monetary activities of the state that took place about a year before the container of cash was reportedly brought into the country.

The government has also requested the assistance of the International Monetary Fund or IMF and representatives of several local organizations.

The National Bar Association, National Civil Society Organization, Federation of Liberian Youth, Association Of Liberia Certified Public Accountants, Liberia Council of Churches and National Muslim Council of Liberia have all been asked to form part of the investigation team.

Meanwhile, already, a number of present and past government officials including the former governor of the Central Bank of Liberia Milton Weeks and current Deputy Bank Governor Charles Sirleaf have been ordered not to leave the country.

Weeks told the BBC on Wednesday, September 19 that he’s fully co-operating with the police as they investigate allegations of the missing billions.

“I have been invited to come and assist with the investigation and I’m doing that, I myself want us to get to the bottom of this to understand where the allegation are coming from,”
he said.

He added that he was not aware of any money missing after it was printed abroad, and brought to the country between November last year and August this year.

It is unclear whether deputy CBL governor Sirleaf, who is the son of former president Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, has been taken in for interrogation by investigators.

Information Minister Lenn Eugene Nagbe earlier told the BBC’S Focus on Africa program on Wednesday that the money was noticed to have been missing between November 2017 and August 2018.

And 98% of the money was brought into the country during the transitional period and President George Weah was not “made aware”.

“Already we have seen documents to show that people signed for containers of money, people signed for bags of money the airport, container of money from the Freeport – this why we are asking some of these individuals to kindly work with the investigative team led by the Ministry of Justice,” he said.

Liberia Justice Minister, Frank Musah Dean.
Image: Globe Afrique.

The government is unsure whether the missing money was placed in the custody of the CBL or is in circulation, Nagbe said.

“Even after several weeks of investigation we still have not seen documentary proof that all of the money that was printed and brought into the country was placed into the custody of the CBL.”

SOURCE:
Bloomberg.
FrontPage.

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