Monrovia – Prosecution lawyers pressing for bribery charges against indicted House Speaker Alex Tyler and Grand Cape Mount Senator Varney Sherman have rejected the insurance bonds filed by the defendants on grounds that they are insufficient, defective and invalid.
The prosecutors have therefore called on the court to set aside the bonds and reprimand the accused pending the validation of the bonds.
Both men are being prosecuted for their alleged involvement in a US$950,000 bribery intended to change the Public Procurement and Concession Act to give a Bristish mining company, Sable Mining a concession right to mine the Wologizi Mountain in northern Liberia.
Following their appearance at the Criminal Court last Wednesday, the two lawmakers were ordered released on bail by Judge Emery Paye, after the accused, Senator Varney Sherman and others have filed a US$1,500,000.00 criminal bond through the OMEGA Insurance Company while House Speaker Alex Tyler filed a US$1,500,000 appearance through the Sky International Insurance Company respectively.
State prosecutors rejected the bonds barely after two days scrutinizing the two insurance bonds, claiming that they are highly defective.
Chief Prosecutor Cllr. Daku Mulbah told FrontPageAfrica shortly after the bonds were filed that they would have them thoroughly scrutinized to ensure that they meet all the legal requirements and will not hesitate to reject them in case of any shortcomings on their part of the bonds.
The prosecutors led by Cllr. Mulbah argued that the bond tendered by Sky International Insurance Corporation was fatally defective because it had no bank statement to support the assets listed as surety contained in the bond neither could it show that the assets listed therein were sufficient to underwrite the bond.
The prosecutors also rejected co-defendant Tyler’s bond on grounds that the business registration certificate because it is registered to engage in life insurance and not criminal appearance bond.
According to them, the “Co-defendant’s surety also lacks the financial capacity to proffer criminal appearance bond in said amount because the company has already filed several other bonds before various courts in the country.
“At present, Sky International has many other criminal bonds amounting to over US$440,000.00 from April 2015 to present Mulbah added”.
While state prosecution also alleged that the account statement attached to the US$1,500.000.00 bond filed on behalf of co-defendant Varney Sherman and others purporting to be the account statement of the surety Omega Insurance company is self -serving as it is a mere print out from a computer and not and official statement of account from a commercial bank operating in Liberia as it bears no name of a bank.
“Wherefore and in view of the foregoing, plaintiff prays that the purported bonds by the co-defendants, Varney Sherman, ECB Jones, Christopher Onanuga, Alex Tyler be declared invalid and defective set aside as a legal nullity and defendants be reprimanded to prison until such time when a new sufficient and valid bonds are tendered and approved “said the prosecution.
Kennedy L Yangian [email protected]
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