Monrovia – Barely a month following the introduction and circulation of new bank notes in the country by the Central Bank of Liberia (CBL), Police have arrested a man identified as Trokon Mason with counterfeited Liberian Dollars.
Report by Kennedy L. Yangian [email protected]
Mason has been charged with forgery/counterfeiting and economic sabotage in violation of sections 15.70 and 15.80 of the new penal law of the Republic of Liberia and forwarded to the South Beach prison to be detained to await trial by the Monrovia City Court
It is not clear whether the banknotes caught on the suspect is the new ones recently put in circulation by the CBL, but Police say Mason, a resident of Chocolate City in Gardnesville was arrested and allegedly had in his possession LD$6,200 at a local motel.
“Suspect Trokon Mason was at the “Think For Yourself Motel” orders for drinks and while in the process of paying for said drinks, it was discovered that money used to buy was a fake /counterfeit Liberian Bank notes,” a Police charge sheet in the possession of FrontPage Africa indicated.
The charge sheet also stated that the money was found in the pocket of the suspect and was presented to the Police during investigation, though they failed to state who turned him over to the Police.
The action of Mason, according to the Police, was done knowingly with the sole purpose to deceive or harm another person or the Government of Liberia by infusing the fake bank notes into the economy.
During investigation, the Police also stated that the suspect admitted to the commission of the crime.
Prior to defendant Mason’s arrest, a Nigerian national was arrested earlier this year in the border town of Bo with over $150,000 worth of fake Liberia bank notes in the one hundred denomination.
The fake Liberia bank notes were hidden in a television set while the Nigerian was traveling from Sierra Leone to Liberia through Bo border point when he was nabbed by members of the joint security where he was later charged and forwarded to the Monrovia City Court at the Temple of Justice following investigation at the headquarters of the Liberia National Police on Capitol Hill.
While at the Monrovia City Court at the Temple of Justice, the Nigerian national was duly charged with the alleged commission of the crime of counterfeiting and economic sabotage in violation of sections 15.70 and 15.80 of the new penal law of the Republic of Liberia and also ordered detained at the Monrovia Central Prison, pending prosecution by the Monrovia City Court at the Temple of Justice.