-S. Court Nails 5 Ex-officials
The Supreme Court of Liberia has ordered the incarceration of five former government officials convicted of economic sabotage in connection with a major forestry-related fraud scheme that defrauded the Government of Liberia of approximately US$6 million.
The ruling brings a significant development to a case that has remained in the Liberian judicial system for years.
Associate Justice His Honor Boakai N. Kanneh, reading the Supreme Court’s judgment, said each of the defendants will serve one year in prison and pay US$10,000 in restitution for the crime of economic sabotage. The decision follows the defendants’ appeal of their convictions by Criminal Court “C,” where they were found guilty of several offenses connected to the issuance of illegal forestry permits.
The case involves five former officials, including former Forestry Development Authority, FDA, Managing Director, Moses Wogbeh, former Technical Manager, John Kanto, former Commercial Forestry Manager, Janger Kamara, former Grand Bassa County Surveyor, David Blayee and former Director of Cartography at the Ministry of Lands, Mines and Energy, Maxwell Gwee.
According to the case, the officials were convicted in 2015 after being found responsible for facilitating the issuance of illegal forestry permits as part of a scheme that resulted in substantial financial losses to the Government of Liberia. Their convictions included economic sabotage, forgery, criminal conspiracy, and obstruction of government functions.
The prosecution maintained that the defendants abused their official positions and participated in actions that enabled unauthorized forestry activities, ultimately depriving the Liberian government of millions of dollars in legitimate revenue. The case became one of the major corruption-related prosecutions involving former government officials and the management of Liberia’s natural resources.
Following their conviction, the defendants appealed to the Supreme Court, challenging the judgment of the lower court. After reviewing the matter, the Supreme Court upheld the criminal liability of the defendants and ordered that the sentences imposed as part of the judgment be enforced, including the one-year prison terms and restitution of US$10,000 each.
The Supreme Court’s ruling now places the five former officials under an order to begin serving their respective sentences, marking the latest chapter in a case that has stretched across more than a decade. The judgment also underscores the court’s position that public officials can be held criminally accountable when their actions result in the illegal diversion or loss of government resources.
COURTERSY: Joseph K. Sallie
