Liberia: Justice Ministry Wants Secretary of the Senate Relieved of His Duties Due to Ongoing Economic Sabotage, Theft of Property, Forgery, and Criminal Conspiracy Trial

Monrovia – The Assistant Minister for Litigation of the Ministry of Justice, Cllr. Wesseh Alphonsus Wesseh, wants the Secretary of the Liberian Senate relieve of his post pending the outcome of a criminal lawsuit against him.

J. Nanbolor F. Singbeh and 13 other defendants were indicted by the State for the charges of economic sabotage, theft of property, forgery, and criminal conspiracy.

Their trial is set for the May Term of Court this year, and Cllr. Wesseh believes it will be prudent for Mr. Singbeh to be relieved from his current position, stating that anything short may dilute the essence of a free and impartial criminal trial,  which he believes is not to convict, but to ensure that justice is properly served.

In a communication sent to Senate Pro Tempore Albert Chie, Cllr. Wesseh wrote: “In lieu of the aforementioned, we humbly appeal that you temporarily discharge Mr. J. Nanbolor F. Singbeh, the Secretary of the Liberian Senate from his official functions and duties as secretary of this August body; pending the full disposition of these criminal proceedings, so as not to allow him to influence the trial while serving the government and people of the Republic of Liberia as Secretary of the Honorable Liberian Senate.”

He added that anything on the contrary, would be considered a “smokescreen” and deemed under what he termed as the “subterfuge of rendering a free and impartial trial”.

His communication also claimed that Justice Minister Cllr. Frank Musah Dean and the Solicitor General of Liberia Cllr. Sayma S. Cephus have recused themselves from the pending criminal case involving Mr. Singbeh, but that hasn’t been independently verified by FrontPageAfrica.

The communication added: “Honorable President Pro Tempore and Members of the Honorable Liberian Senate, the defendants in these proceedings, including J. Nanbolor F. Singbeh who is currently serving as Secretary of the Liberian Senate was investigated by the Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission (LACC) for economic crimes and theft of property, after which they were jointly indicted by the government of the Republic of Liberia for prosecution.”

On June 12, 2020, Mr. Singbeh’s lawyer filed a US$300,000 insurance bond filed from the Sky Insurance Company to the Clerk of Court’s office, which was accepted promptly to ensure his release on bail.

Singbeh’s bail bond, according to court sources, was examined by prosecutors to determine the validity of the bond.

Singbeh and the other defendants were charged after a complaint was filed by two Czech nationals for allegedly taking US$5 million from a company.

The Czech nationals, Pavel Miloschewsky and Martin Miloschewsky, claimed that after expressing interest in the country business sector between June 2013 and July 2019 to establish a firm for the production of crushed rocks and other related activities, they were allegedly defrauded by Singbeh, who had a 30 per cent share in the company.

According to the indictment, Singbeh designed a fraudulent scheme along with the other defendants to withdraw US$5M from the company’s accounts at Ecobank and Afriland Bank with the aim of settling salaries and other expenses of the company.