Monrovia – Former House Speaker Alex J. Tyler has been named as one of the prosecution witnesses to testify against the five indicted Central Bank executives, who are on trial for multiple crimes, including Economic Sabotage, Criminal Conspiracy, Facilitation and Solicitation.
The five CBL executives are Ex-Governor Milton Weeks, Deputy Executive Governor for Operations, Charles Sirleaf, Director of Finance Dorbor Hagba, Director for Operations Richard Walker and Joseph Dennis, Deputy for Internal Audit, were indicted during the February 2019 Term of Court.
Prosecution lawyers stated that the defendants were indicted collectively for the full amount L$2.645 billion and US$835,367.72 respectively
These bank executives’ indictment came about as the result of a report released by the Presidential Investigative Team sets up by President George Weah to probe the alleged missing 16 billion Liberian Bank notes printed by the Crane Currency, Crane AB, SE-14782 Tumba Sweden and brought into the country.
Former Speaker Tyler named surfaced in the on-going trial Monday, June 17, as one of prosecution’s key witnesses by defense counsel Abraham Sillah after the prosecution requested the court to give them time to bring their witnesses to court because of the prosecution witnesses were out of the country.
Defense Counsel Sillah rejected the request and called on the court to deny it saying the request was vague and ambiguous because the prosecution failed to state the name of those material witnesses who are allegedly out of the country.
The defense’s demand to deny the prosecution’s request was denied by Judge Peter Gbeneweleh, who justified that he couldn’t deny the request because it was the first time in the case for the prosecution to ask for time.
However, Judge Gbeneweleh re-assigned the case for Monday, June 24, at which time the prosecution is expected to produce its first witness.
“Counsel says Honorable Alex Tyler, one of the witnesses is in the country and was in court this morning. Under our laws and practice, the prosecution is required to produce documentary evidence in the absence of their witnesses from the country,” Sillah added.
Former Speaker Tyler has been paired as prosecution witnesses with Baba Boakai, Mark N. Kollie, Isaac C. Davies, Emmanuel Turlu, Amos Goba and Marshall Dennis, who the prosecutors claimed are their key witnesses.
The irony of the former Speaker Tyler’s witness stance against the five CBL officials comes at time when he is indicted on similar charges in the ongoing Global Witness Sable Mining bribery case in the same court. Tyler, too, is on trial in the same court on charges of Bribery, Economic Sabotage, Criminal Conspiracy, Facilitation and Solicitation.
Defendant Tyler was indicted alongside seven former and current government officials for allegedly receiving a US$950,000 bribe of which he allegedly received US$75,000 share from the British Company Sable Mining to change the Public Procurement and Concession Commission Act in favor of the company to mine the Wologisi Mountain in Lofa County.
The report was brought to light by the British non-governmental organization the Global Witness in its May 2016 Report released but former Speaker Tyler and the other former and current officials have since denied the charges.
Tyler was elected as Representative of Bomi County Electoral District #1 in the 52nd & 53rd Legislature respectively under the two-term regime of former President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.
While serving as an ordinary lawmaker in the 52nd Legislature, he rose to the rank of Speaker after the removal of former Montserrado County District #6 lawmaker Edwin Melvin Snowe.
After a few years in the post, Tyler was also dethroned from his Speakership by his colleagues after they declared a “vote of no confidence” in his leadership and was replaced by former Margibi County lawmaker Emmanuel Nuquay.
Speaker Nuquay contested the 2017 President and General Elections as vice running mate to the former ruling Unity Party (UP) Candidate former Vice President Joseph Boakai and lost the election to President George Weah and Vice President Jewel Howard Taylor.