Monrovia – The Liberia National Police (LNP) is investigating the chief campaign officer of the Liberty Party and CEO of SRIMEX Oil & Gas Company, Mr. Musa H. Bility, for allegedly issuing two dud checks of US$250,000 each to a Nigerian counterpart.
Report by Bettie K. Johnson Mbayo, [email protected]
However, Liberia’s Inspector General of Police, Col. Gregory Coleman says so far, there has been no concrete link between Bility and the purported checks presented by the Nigerian INTERPOL.
The police of the Federal Republic of Nigeria accused Bility of “criminal breach of Trust, cheating and issuance of bad check in a multimillion dollar petroleum deal.
Bility’s complaint was reportedly filed by a Nigerian oil merchant Mr. Kunle Roberts who complained that in March 2012, his company Drake Alliance Oil Trading FZE reached an agreement with Bility’s Nexis Enterprise Inc. and Srimex Oil and Gas for the shipment of petroleum products for Bility’s companies in Liberia.
Kunle said he delivered 9,671.496 metric tons but and companies refused to pay US$2,450,000 (two million, four hundred and fifty thousand United States dollars), representing the total value of the supplied consignment.
To settle his obligation with the Nigerian, Bility promised to pay US$50,000 monthly until 2015, which accordingly allegedly prompted Bility to issue two bad checks of US$250,000 each dated September 17 and 21, 2015.
In a notification to their Liberian counterparts, INTERPOOL said Bility has been using diplomatic passport to avoid arrest when traveling away from Liberia.
On 20 July, 2017, INTERPOL-Abuja alerted: “The Bureau reported the incident to INTERPOL Liberia, Monrovia and a warrant of arrest has been issued for his arrest by a competent court of jurisdiction in Nigeria.
Similarly, subject has been published wanted through INTERPOL Red notice No.2017/134358.”
No Trace
In a press conference at the police headquarters on Capitol Hill on Wednesday, IGP Col. Coleman told reporters that though investigation is ongoing, the police have so far not been able to link Billity to the checks presented by their Nigerian counterparts.
Col. Coleman: “We requested from NCB Nigeria because under our law in order for such to be criminal you have to know the length of time the check stayed before it become criminal.
“When we received the check we contacted the GT Bank. There is no trace of the check.”
“There is no instrument at the bank. The instrument brought by INTERPOL has some questionability.”
The LNP boss disclosed that Bility has confirmed to investigators that the complainant is his business partner and a check was issue with such amount.
“Mr. Bility has confirmed that he has legitimate business deal with the complainant beyond the issuance of the check there have been payments made, so we have contacted the Central Bank, which is the last place to know , even if GT Bank don’t have the record the Central bank will have record,” Col. Coleman said.
Political Blackmail
Though Bility may be comfortable that the police wasn’t able to link him to the checks, he does not agree with the Inspector General that the Central Bank of Liberia is the supreme authority to authenticate the originality of the check.
He told FrontPageAfrica, “GT Bank is the final place to know whether the check was cleared or not. Central Bank doesn’t manage individual accounts and accounts records.”
“This is a case of blackmail of politics. I’m also taking legal actions for defamation and blackmail.”
“I have a legitimate business relationship with this man. But to claim that I issued him checks that were returned is wicked and intended to defame and blackmail me,” he added.
In his quest to proof his innocence, Bility wrote the management of GT Bank Liberia requesting clarification regarding the checks (nos. 00179540 and 00179541) said to have been issued to Drake Liberia Inc. by Srimex Enterprise Account no.201100280211.
Bility wrote, “Our records do not indicate the issuance of any such checks and our perusal our GT Bank account statement covering this period [September 2012] does not show the issuance of any such checks or the presentation thereof.
“It is from this background that we request a formal clarification from GT Bank in very clear term as to whether these checks were ever presented to GT Bank as stated…”
In their response to SRIMEX request, GT Bank replied that after vigorous review of their system, they’ve come to a conclusion that the bank never received the stated checks on any of the accounts of SRMIEX Oil & Gas.