MONROVIA: Forth night ago, reports emerged that former Minister of Finance and Development Planning, Samuel D. Tweah Jr., and others were charged by President Joseph Nyuma Boakai led Government of Liberia for their alleged commission of a chain of financial crimes.
The accusations come amid a backdrop of political tension and mounting scrutiny over his past actions, as Finance Minister of Liberia.
In the face of this development against former Minister Tweah, who is also a topnotch executive of the former ruling Coalition for Democratic Change, (CDC), a former Auditor General of Liberia, and known anti-corruption advocate, John S. Morlu, claimed that Tweah authorized the transfer of over fifty million U.S. dollars (US$50 million) to the state-owned National Security Agency (NSA), during his tenure as Finance Minister.
This revelation, which Mr. Morlu attributes to the 2023 Government of Liberia Consolidated Account Report, also suggests potential tampering with government’s resources.
By all accounts, Morlu’s allegations appear to have exacerbated Tweah’s woes including his efforts aimed at entirely fanning off charges of criminal conspiracy, theft, economic sabotage, and misuse of public money.
An anonymous analyst commented on the situation, noting the importance of this issue as Tweah appears to be enjoying substantial support from his party, the Congress for Democratic Change (CDC).
Already, the ex-ruling party, via its political leader, and former President of Liberia, George Manneh Weah, has threatened to “politically and legally resist strongly” what it described as a “witch-hunt” by the current administration of President Joseph Boakai.
Some keen observers are of the view that this backing by the CDC has apparently empowered Tweah to reaffirm that, indeed, he has done no wrong and the claims are a product of “political witch-hunt” and “weaponization of justice.”
He categorically rejected claims of involvement in the Financial Intelligence Agency (FIA) US$6.2 million fraud case, where the millions are alleged to have been misappropriated and swindled, based on audits of the state-owned General Auditing Commission, (GAC), which by laws, enjoys autonomous and /or independent status.
Speaking from the United States via a popular Liberian online radio/TV station, “the Spoon-Talk,” Morlu added his perspectives as it relates to the allegations against Tweah.
He narrated that “The 2023 Financial Statement of the Government of Liberia shows that Samuel Tweah transferred US$50 million to the NSA without proper documentation, merely with a transfer letter.”
Morlu’s assertion seems to be aligned with audit details on page 35 of the government report which is accessible via the Ministry of Finance website, as confirmed by The ‘Investigative’ INDEPENDENT Newspaper.
According to the former Auditor General, another US$20 million of government funds were disbursed on mere transfer letter that originated from former Minister Tweah.
The former Director of the Financial Intelligence Agency (FIA), Stanley S. Ford, who is said to be on the run has not responded to the government’s allegations levied against him.
Nevertheless, some social media commentators opined that Morlu’s recent testimony is aimed at shedding more light on the purported financial misdeeds of the ex-Finance minister who rose to prominence during the erstwhile Weah administration.
“Tweah should come forward and account for his actions,” said Morlu. “Weah covered up a major economic crime. If any CDC member claims they know about the UP’s 12 years of theft, they should be arrested for economic conspiracy against Liberia and its people. This is the biggest economic crime conspiracy against Liberia by George Weah and his team, all because they wanted to steal as well.”
Morlu also revealed via the online radio/TV show that he recently emailed former President George Weah, outlining why he believes, the former President of Liberia should be held accountable by the current regime “for criminal conspiracy” for failing to hold the Unity Party (UP) government accountable.
“Joe Boakai is not punishing the CDC; he is punishing Tweah. Tweah must be held accountable for his actions, and so must Jefferson Karmo. Let’s hold individuals accountable for what they did,” Morlu told the world.
However, the State-owned General Auditing Commission (GAC) audits finding of the CBL on ‘Chat Table-7’ indicates “over the Counter Currency transactions in excess of regulated threshold for the period 2018-2023, which amounted to US$178, 332, 760.05 and LD$ 1, 946, 289, 025.97.
The GAC said “we observed no evidence that the CBL provided currency transaction reports (CTRs) to the FIA for these amounts during the period as required.”
The GAC added that the risk associated with “Over-the-counter disbursements to individuals by the management above approved thresholds may facilitate misappropriation of public funds.”
The GAC also averred that “Payments of significant over the counter disbursements to individuals may facilitate money laundering, fraud and theft of public funds.”
At the same time, the CBL, in response to GAC inquiries, stated that “CBL maintains demand deposit accounts for Government’s Ministries and Agencies accounts, allowing the entities to withdraw as needed, based on checks presented for encashment and in adherence to the CBL policy on encashment. The Central Bank of Liberia has not set thresholds for over-the-counter payments on Government transaction as such policy will need to be discussed and agreed with MFDP. The AML/CRT regulation quoted applies to commercial banks and not the CBL, as the regulator. Regarding the provision of currency transactions reports (CRTs)to the FIA, the Central Bank of Liberia is not a reporting entity under the AML/CFT regime of Liberia and is not under obligation to report daily currency transactions to the FIA.”
