Monrovia – The Ministry of Transport has issued a press release clarifying certain aspects of the stolen vehicle saga that is ongoing involving Montserrado County Representative Acarus Gray.
The Ministry of Transport, in a press release issued in Monrovia today, stated that the vehicle in question is a Range Rover MFD Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV) bearing vehicle identification number SAVLN2BG7DH839138 that was presented to the Ministry of Transport for registration on May 9, 2016 as evidenced by vehicle applicant billing form signed by one Mr. Tonia Tisdell as owner with Mr. Marcus S. Saah as expeditor.
The vehicle was billed on the same date and the payment into the GoL revenue account was made on May 10, 2016 as evidenced by revenue receipt number 8103173 in the amount of US$240.00 in the name of Tonia Tisdell as owner.
Following the drop off of the documents at the Ministry, and in keeping with Ministry of Transport standard operating procedure, the Ministry’s staff then proceeded to examine the vehicle’s documentation to ascertain whether it was qualified for registration.
The documents were referred to higher authority for review after the following inconsistencies were discovered:
Notary Certificate to a hand to hand bill of sale showing the sale of the vehicle by one Mr. Lloyd Smith to Mr. Tonia Tisdell dated May 11, 2016 that is two days after the documents were presented for billing notarized by Montserrado County Notary Public Johnson A. Mentee Gweh, Sr.
Notary certificate to a hand to hand bill of sale showing the sale of the same vehicle by Mr. Saidou Sangary to Mr. Tonia Tisdell dated May 10, 2016, one day after the document was presented for billing notarized by Montserrado County Notary Public Abraham W. Nifor.
There is no document showing ownership of the vehicle in the United States of America from where the vehicle was exported in the name of Lloyd Smith as evidenced by the import documents.
The vehicle also did not have the mandatory third party liability insurance from one of the 19 insurance companies recognized by the Central Bank of Liberia and the Ministry of Transport as qualified to participate in the minimum liability scheme of the Government which is a precondition to vehicle registration.
There was also a copy of the photo page of a Liberian passport number L 159866 belonging to one Mr. Bakary F. Fofana that did not appear to have any relevance to the documents submitted.
The Ministry of Transport also observed that the vehicle in question was not being sold by an authorized dealer since all authorized dealers had to have an eligibility certificate issued by the Ministry of Transport.
In the instance where the vehicle is being sold by a private owner, then title to the vehicle has to be shown. All of these were absent and the Ministry could not ascertain the foreign owner of the vehicle or how it came to be shipped in the name of Lloyd Smith.
The Ministry of Transport press release also clarified that the license plate HOR 32 is no longer legitimate and that the plate was replaced since January 1, 2015 with the new license plate regime currently in use.
The release further noted that the transfer of license plate from one vehicle to another can only be done through the Ministry of Transport in order to have proper record keeping for Government and security reasons and to ensure Government revenue interest.
The transfer of any license plate from one vehicle to another by the owner without the approval of the Government is illegal.
The Transport Ministry release concluded that the Ministry’s investigation was ongoing at the time that that vehicle in question was arrested by the Liberia National Police and that the Ministry is working along with the police to resolve the matter.