Police officers hooked for $2M theft

Two police officers have been charged for allegedly stealing more than two million Liberian Dollars after allegedly being sent to withdraw the said amount from the Central Bank of Liberia by Deputy Police Director for Administration, William K. Mulbah.

A Police charge sheet says defendants Dee David Henry and Timothy Paipe Mator were arrested on January 22, 2015 following the commission of theft of property, misapplication of entrusted property and economic sabotage on January 4, 2015.

The Deputy Police Chief Mulbah informed investigators that on January 4, a check of L$2,893,500 was signed to be enchased by patrolman Dee David Henry in whose name the check was written as payee, and accompanied by Timothy Papie Mator.

Mr. Mulbah said the check with series number 00120405, was drawn on the Liberia National Police or LNP special operation fund account at the CBL.

The defendants had been instructed by Mr. Mulbah that upon completion, they should convert the LD two million plus into United States Dollars at a local bureau because the operation for which the money was required demanded US dollars.

Mr. Mulbah said after a local money exchanger on Gurley Street, Amadu Sall, converted L$2,713,500 into USD equivalent of $31,330, the two alleged culprits left the remaining L$180,000 with him and went into hiding with the USD component they had on hand.

During probe with the defendants, co-defendant Henry said he left the L$180,000 with the money exchanger on the alleged instruction of Varney A. Sheriff, one of the signers of the LD two million plus check.

On his way back to LNP Central Headquarters, defendant Henry claimed that while passing through Buchanan Street upon boarding a motorbike from Gurley Street, some unidentified persons on another motorbike jerked or pulled the US#31,330.00 from the motorbike he was riding on and made away with it.

But he denied that co-defendant Timothy Papie Mator was with him at the CBL and at the money exchange bureau when he interacted with the money exchanger Amadu Sall. He said Mator got to know the money was missing when he had called him to help him locate the perpetrators.

For his part, defendant Mator said after he conveyed co-defendant Henry at the CBL via a police motorbike, he left for the Ministry of Finance to attend to some issues before later departing for Brewerville, outside Monrovia.

He claimed to have been informed by Henry that the money had been stolen from him while he was already on motorbike en-route to Brewerville. The two accused have been charged and sent to the Monrovia City Court.

By Winston W. Parley