Monrovia – Affidavit Complaint obtained by FrontPageAfrica on Cassell Kuoh’s alleged fraudulent acts in Liberia and the United States reveals that Liberian football official had been allegedly duping several individuals thousands of dollars as a fake diamond dealer.
Report by Lennart Dodoo – [email protected]
In August 2014 and August 2015, Kuoh, according to the complaint, tricked and convinced D.S. to wire transfer approximately US$3,687,030 via bank wire transfers to McDan Shipping Company Limited
According to the Affidavit of Complaint, in July 2014 Cassell Kuoh, a.k.a Tim Barrol, McDan Shipping Company Ltd. and others known to the United States had been engaged in an elaborate scheme to defraud individuals of millions of dollars by falsely representing that they possessed large quantities of gold and diamonds in Liberia.
The syndicate made their victims to believe that they wanted to ship the gold and diamonds to United States for refinement and sale.
Kouh and his associates, according to the complaint, held themselves out to be various types of middlemen who had access to large quantities of gold and diamonds in Liberia.
On or about June 27, 2013, according to the complaint, a victim-investor only identified as D.S. entered into a written contract to purchase 500 kilograms of gold bars and a second contract to purchase 223 rough diamonds (approximately 7, 123 carats) from one William Jackson to be identified in Monrovia. D.S. met Jackson via the business oriented social networking social networking service LinkedIn.
The complaint disclosed that that initially Jackson contacted D.S. and stated that he represented a village in Liberia that wanted to export its gold and diamonds to the United States.
Accordingly, D.S. recruited partners in the United States for the purpose of investing in the shipment of Liberian gold and diamonds. “These investors sent D.S. money which he eventually sent to the conspirators for, what he believed to be, the shipment of gold and diamonds. Per an agreement with William Jackson, the shipment of gold and diamonds was to be managed by a ‘Tim Barrol’ (Kuoh) of McDan Shipping Company, Ltd., a shipping company located in Liberia,” the complaint stated.
The complaint further indicated that Kuoh was known to D.S. as Tim Barrol. “Photographs of Cassell Kuoh’s U.S. border crossing and U.S. visa confirmed him as the individual representing himself as Tim Barrol of McDan Shipping Company.
Primary Component of Fraud
As a primary component of the fraud scheme, Kuoh required several payments be made for certificate signatures and fees related to obtaining diamonds which would allow for the legal exportation and shipment of gold and diamonds from Liberia to the United States.
Search warrants on email accounts revealed that Kuoh, and others working only identified as E.T., C.K., and W.M., appeared to have created and/or manipulated numerous documents which allowed them to request payments for certificate endorsement on the fraudulent shipment.
In August 2014 and August 2015, Kuoh, according to the complaint, tricked and convinced D.S. to wire transfer approximately US$3,687,030 via bank wire transfers to McDan Shipping Company Limited, one C.K. (Kuoh’s former wife), Phoenix Mining and Investment Group (owned by Kuoh), W.M., E.T. (Kuoh’s associates) and others for shipping related costs including fees and other shipping related costs including storage fees, documents, certificates, etc. related to the legal exportation of gold and diamonds from Liberia to the United States.
According to the complaint, as part of the deal to convince D.S. that the deal was legitimate and the gold was real, in September 2014, Kuoh entered into the U.S. with approximately one kilogram of which, as D.S. arranged, he delivered to the refinery in Dallas, TX, which bought the gold and wired approximately US$37,761 to D.S.
In July 2013, spoke with one Patrick Sendolo who is yet to be properly identified.
According to the complaint, this Patrick Sendolo represented himself as the Liberian Minister of Lands, Mines & Energy (the Minister of Lands, Mines and Energy is called Patrick Sendolo), regarding the shipment which had allegedly been on a custom hold at Washington Dulles International Airport since January 25, 2015.
Patrick Sendolo provided D.S. with a U.S.-based telephone number supposedly for a Customs and Border Protection Officer (CBO Harry) at the airport.
D.S. called the number and spoke with CBO Harry who confirmed the shipment was in Custom’s possession in Virginia, and told D.S. that the shipment could only be picked up at its final destination, Dallas, TX.
A research conducted on the telephone number provided by Sendolo showed that it was not a U.S. government telephone number associated with any CBO officer.
However, a response to the complaint by Land & Mines Minister Patrick Sendolo to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcements wrote:
The Minister’s Reaction
Madame Saldaña:
We are in receipt of a criminal complaint filed in the United States District Court for the Western District of North Carolina by Homeland Security Investigations (HIS), captioned United States of America v. Cassell Anthony Kuoh a/k/a“Tim Borrol,”in which the defendant is charged with wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud. We take keen interest in the case for two reasons.
First, we are gravely concerned about the potential damage to our precious minerals sector from the actions of unscrupulous individuals who set out to defraud people that desire to invest and participate in our sector.
We, therefore, applaud the robust action which this case represents, and assure you of the fullest support of the Ministry of Lands, Mines and Energy in prosecuting the case to a successful conclusion.
Second, some averments have been made in the complaint to the effect that the victim spoke with a person claiming to be “Patrick Sendolo” and an “associate of Kuoh,” who was representing himself as the Liberian Minister of Lands, Mines and Energy, about some shipment of minerals which was on hold at Dulles Airport.
While the complaint has been careful to clarify that the person with whom the victim spoke has yet to be positively identified, we believe that this matter is of such gravity that it requires more aggressive action.
Without a doubt, the imposter in question was not me, the real Patrick Sendolo and Minister of Lands Mines and Energy of Liberia, as the scurrilous activities entailed in this case comport neither with Patrick Sendolo’s well-established reputation nor his morals.
Critically, Patrick Sendolo is not acquainted with, and most certainly is not, and has never been, an “associate” of the defendant in question.
All of this notwithstanding, I urge the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), through its Homeland Security Investigations (HSI),to take all measures necessary and expedient to establish the identity ofthe person in question and prosecute him to the fullest extent of the law.
Of course, I would welcome if you would also include me as part of your investigation, so that there is no shadow of a doubt that this action was perpetrated by a scoundrel behind my good name.
This is a truly unfortunate case and there is much work to be done in respect of victims who, sadly, sometimes make themselves amenable to being victimized.
In this particular instance, the supposed victim apparently neglected to acquire even the most rudimentary information about how the precious minerals business works in Liberia, which is readily available by contacting the Ministry of Lands, Mines and Energy.
Tragically, but somewhat comically, the victim in this case goes to the outward limit of gullibility to accept from his alleged defrauders that the status of his supposed shipment in Washington, D.C. could be obtained by means of a rather casual phone call to a person posing as the minister.
This truly defies credulity! Yet, this is a serious problem that cannot be condoned and needs to be solved.
We are, therefore, committed to working with you in a spirit of cooperation and partnership to combat the scourge of smuggling of precious minerals and the fraud and other crimes with which it is often attended.
We understand that you have programs under which you cooperate with countries around the world on these issues, and we would enthusiastically welcome the opportunity to participate in one of your programs.
The Vice President for Operations of the Liberia Football Association (LFA), Cassell Kuoh, was arrested in North Carolina on November 16 for alleged fraudulent acts. He’s in detention at the North Carolina Federal Prison.