MONROVIA – Justice Minister Frank Musah Dean has told FrontPageAfrica that he has no knowledge of government dropping criminal charges against the former Managing Director of the Liberia Airport Authority (LAA), ironically, it was the dismissal of the case that gave Ms. Ellen Corkrum the guts to return to Liberia having been on the run since 2013.
The indictment against Ms. Corkrum was dismissed on December 9, by Judge Nancy F. Sammy of Criminal Court ‘C’
FrontPageAfrica gathered that Solicitor General Syrenius Cephas instructed the motion to dismiss the case. This paper has, however, not been able to get comments from the Solicitor General who is now calling for the re-arrest of Corkrum.
During the motion to dismiss which was heard last December, Assistant for Litigation Ministry of Justice, Cllr. Wesseh A. Wesseh, argued that the case had been pending before the court since 2013 without having the opportunity to serve Defendant Corkrum with the Indictment or the Writ of Arrest to bring her under the jurisdiction of the court.
During the hearing, Cllr. Wesseh said, “Movant further says that after the indictment was obtained against the defendants, it has become very impossible to have the defendant (Corkrum) served with the indictment and that as a matter of law, the said proceedings have been on the docket of this court almost five years, thereby making it impossible to have the case assigned or trial.”
Cephas crossing the line?
But legal pundits say, it was the prerogative of the Minister of Justice to have requested the court to drop the charges and find it strange that the Justice Minister was unaware of the proceeding that led to the court granting the motion seeking the dismissal of the indictment.
But this is not the first time that the Justice Minister’s role had been usurped. In November 2019, Deputy Information Minister Eugene Fahngon during a regular press briefing at the Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism, told reporters, that the government had prepared a Writ of Arrest for Mr. Henry Costa, head of the Council of Patriots.
Barely 24 hours after the pronouncement, Justice Minister Cllr. Dean dismissed the pronouncement. He told FrontPageAfrica, “There is no writ of arrest from the Court and the Ministry of Justice has not given any such order of arrest.”
FrontPageAfrica would later learn that Deputy Minister Fahngon’s pronouncement was advised by Solicitor General Cephas.
In August 2019, Special Independent Prosecutor and Chairman of the Assets Investigation, Restitution and Recovery Team (AIRRET) constituted by the Solicitor General, wrote the Justice Minister inviting him to answer to account for payment he might have received during the first term of former President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.
But the Justice Minister dismissed the allegation levelled against him by the head of ARRET, Cllr. Arthur Johnson and termed same as “speculative”.
Justice Minister Versus Solicitor General
The role of the Justice Minister, according to the Executive Law include: procure proper evidence for, and conduct, prosecute or defend all suits and proceedings in the courts in which the Republic of Liberia or any official thereof, as to such officer is a party or maybe interested.
The Justice Minister is also to institute all legal proceedings necessary for law enforcement; furnish opinions as to legal matters and render services requiring legal skills to the President and other agencies of the executive branch of the Government;
The Justice Minister also oversees the codification of Liberian statutory law and the editing and printing the Supreme Court opinions, and of such of the opinions of the Minister of Justice as he may deem valuable for preservation in book form;
The Justice Minister also supervises the correctional system and the commitment and treatment of prisoners, among others.
However, the Solicitor General, being a subordinate of the Justice Minister shall prepare and argue all cases to which the Government of Liberia or any officer thereof, as such officer, is a party; provided that the Minister of Justice may himself conduct any case if in his opinion the interest of the government requires him to do so;
The Solicitor General has immediate supervision of the conduct of all litigations involving the Government of Liberia, including the activities of the county, territorial and district attorneys.
Justice Minister and Attorney General of the Republic of Liberia informed FrontPageAfrica that he had no knowledge of the Government of Liberia dropping the criminal charges against the former Liberia Authority Managing Director, Ellen Corkrum. However, court records show that Assistant for Litigation Ministry of Justice, Cllr. Wesseh A. Wesseh, in the motion to dismiss the case argued that the case had been pending before the court since 2013 without having the opportunity to serve defendant Corkrum with the Indictment or the Writ of Arrest to bring her under the jurisdiction of the court
Sommersaulting on Corkrum’s freedom
Cllr. Cephas is now rolling back his decision on the dismissal of the petition against Corkrum.
According to him, the decision to dismiss the case was recommended by former Solicitor General Betty Larmin-Blamo.
In a communication from the Solicitor General to the head of the Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission, Cllr. Ndubuisi Nwabudike, dated February 3, 2020, obtained by FrontPageAfrica Monday, the SG wrote:
“We present our compliments and have the honor to forward herewith the attached case file involving Madam Ellen Corkrum, Musa Bility and members of the Board of Directors of RIA and a number of commercial banks which were investigated, others dropped and some were subsequently indicted for “Economic Sabotage, Theft of Property, Criminal conspiracy, and Misapplication of entrusted funds.”
“A careful review of the records of the case shows, that the previous government entered a Nolle Prosequoi in favor of a number of defendants involved in this matter prior to our ascendancy, and we in recent times, did the same due to the absence of Madam Corkrum and to avoid being seen as pursuing a “selective prosecution.”
“Further, we also noticed that a sole source recommendation was made by our predecessor Cllr. Betty Lamin Blamo to hire a US-based firm, Fox Rothschild to which US$200,00(Two Hundred Thousand Dollars that was allegedly paid to Fox Rothschild to have Madam Corkrum brought back to Liberia.
“Finally, the investigation should take into consideration the legal basis for the former Solicitor General Betty Lamin-Blamo recommending a sole source bid or selection of Fox Rothschild recommending a sole source bid or selection of Fox Rotschild, what became of the extradition proceedings, if any among them.”
Why Corkrum was Indicted
Ms. Ellen Corkrum was the former Managing Director of the Liberia Airport Authority. Ms. Corkrum, whilst serving as Managing Director (MD) of the Liberia Airport Authority (LAA), on her own and in conspiracy with others. The Government alleges that she illegally procured the transfer of US$US$269,000.00 of public funds to a fictitious company, Diaspora Consulting, LLC (Diaspora), and to its CEO, Mr. Momar Dieng, her friend from the Kennedy School, Harvard University, for work that he and his company did not perform. Ms. Corkrum also authorized the illegal transfer of US$56,750 of LAA funds to her romantic partner Melvin Johnson, and his firm Melvin Johnson and Associates (a law firm in the State of Georgia, United States of America) allegedly for services rendered in connection with the security system at Roberts International Airport (RIA), which services were neither performed by Johnson or his firm. The transfer was carried out by First International Bank (“FIB”) through its then-Head of Operations Mr. Jeremi Tegli) and another officer (Mr. Justin Ogugua), at Ms. Corkrum’s behest, despite the fact that the application for transfer did not contain the requisite authorizing signatures.
Ms. Corkrum obtained authority from the LAA Board to purchase certain computer equipment for the Board. She obtained access to US$19,480 in LAA funds. However, she delivered to the LAA no more than $8,500 worth of equipment. The balance – at least US$10,980 – remains unaccounted for.
On July 30, 2013, a Special Grand Jury sitting in Montserrado County, Liberia, brought down an indictment against Ms. Corkrum and other co-conspirators, for the crimes of economic sabotage, theft of property, criminal conspiracy, and misapplication of entrusted property. A writ of arrest was issued and served on all of the other Defendants thereby bringing them under the jurisdiction of the court, except for Ms. Corkrum, Mr. Momor Dieng, and Mr. Melvin Johnson who were all outside of the bailiwick of Liberia at the time the writ was issued up to and including today.