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Monrovia – As the search for some 16 billion Liberian Dollars, approximately 4.75 percent of Liberia’s GDP reportedly gone missing, continues to be inundated with contradictions and controversies, the US Government has offered to assist Liberia get to the bottom of the saga.
The American government made its willingness to assist with the ‘missing billions’ probe known Wednesday, when the US Embassy near Monrovia announced that through the US Agency for International Development (USAID), it “has reached out to independent, internationally recognized firms with specialization in forensic investigations to conduct a scoping mission that could ascertain the basic facts of the alleged missing currency and determine to what extent a broader mission would be needed.”
The Government of Liberia through its official spokesperson, Information Minister Lenn Eugene Nagbe, told the world in mid September, in a Voice Of America (VOA) radio interview, that President George Weah was not in the know about the ‘missing billions’ in Liberian currency, adding that prior to Weah taking over as president, a batch of banknotes was brought into the country in November 2017.
“Now, when the president received information about these newly-printed banknotes, he sanctioned an investigation, which is being chaired by the Ministry of Justice, the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), and other security apparatus. The idea is to understand how much money came into the country, how much was ordered, how much was printed, which country printed the money, and how did it affect the country’s foreign exchange situation,” Nagbe said.
“We can confirm that the money was brought through the Freeport of Monrovia and the Roberts International Airport and for now we can confirm that the amount was L$16 billion. An estimate of a little over US$60 million, as far as we are concerned from ongoing investigation, came in the two ports of entry,” Information Minister Nagbe added.
The government even went ahead to inform Liberians that it had invited the US FBI and Treasury Department to join a local investigative team to help probe the ‘missing billions hassle.
Howbeit, several officials of government including President Weah are on record for later stating that no money ever went missing, with the governor of the Central Bank of Liberia (CBL), Nathaniel Patray crowning it with a recent statement declaring that all the monies are safely stashed away in the reserve vaults of the CBL.
“There is no such record shown that such money has not yet been delivered to the CBL. All the money is in the vault,” Governor Patray said.
Patray added: “The CBL wants to clarify to the general public and partner in progress that there is no L$16 billion missing, as has been erroneously reported in the media,” adding, “The CBL has no records showing that the monies printed under its authority have not yet been delivered into its reserve vaults. Record from the Crane Currency of Sweden, which was contracted to print the money, shows that the Crane delivered 15.5 billion through the Freeport and RIA between 2016 and 2018 and that all these monies were logged by the CBL and delivered into the reserves vaults of the CBL.”
But in its Wednesday statement, the US Embassy near Monrovia is of the belief that with is forensic investigative team, any report coming out of the probe into the ‘missing billions’ of Liberian Dollar banknotes would be credible and effective.
“It is the assessment of the U.S. Embassy in Liberia that such a report would be the most credible and effective means to quickly determine the scale of the problem, and would be an appropriate means for the United States to support the Liberian government and citizens’ desire to understand the allegations and facts.”
“If a broader and longer investigation were found to be needed after the scoping mission has concluded, the Liberian government could discuss next steps with international partners,” the statement said.
To ensure the effectiveness and integrity of the process, the statement noted that the U.S. and Liberian governments have agreed that the independent forensic investigators will conduct their work with full access to information needed and without the imposition of additional actors from the government, civil society, or international partners.
“We urge all Liberians to remain patient as the Liberian government, assisted by the United States and other international partners, considers appropriate and expeditious means to help resolve current concerns and questions about Liberia’s currency,” said the US embassy, which stated that both the American and Liberian governments have agreed that when completed, in keeping with transparency and the full understanding of the outcomes of the probe, the report will be made public.
