DAVID A. YATES
Africa-Press – Liberia. A report from the Civil Law Court has cast doubt on Edgar Syney’s claims that Justice Minister-designate, Cllr. Cooper Kruah, is indebted to his company for US$58,814, a sum he allegedly refused to pay.
Syney, in a letter to President Joseph Boakai on January 8, complained that the Justice Minister-designate was still ‘illegally withholding’ US$58,814 out of a total of US$108,941 received from the Civil Law Court in 2012 as a judgment reward for his company.
Kruah’s actions, according to Syney, resulted in a “Guilty Verdict” from the Grievance and Ethics Committee of the Supreme Court, causing significant embarrassment for his struggling company.
“Between 2009 and 2012, Cllr. Cooper W. Kruah was hired as a lawyer for MARDCO during our case with Mr. Edmondo Trombetta in the Republic of Liberia, and he, Kruah, received on behalf of MARDCO the total amount of US$108,941.65 from the proceeds of MARDCO’s Rubber from the Republic of Liberia by the Civil Law Court.
“In view of the foregoing, the above-mentioned institution has been compelled to bring to your attention this matter to kindly see reason and intervene by causing Cllr. Cooper W. Kruah to pay our entity (MARDCO) the said amount of US$58,814.08, which represents the balance that is still due to MARDCO from him,” Syney’s letter to the President reads.
However, Syney’s claims are contradicted by a 2016 report signed by Fofie Kamara, the Sheriff of the 6th Judicial Civil Law Court, which heard the case. Kamara’s report shows that between May 22 and 24, 2012, Syney made two separate payments of US$21,500 and US$7,339.24. Additionally, on October 19 and 26, two other payments of US$4,000 each were made by Cllrs. Kruah and Nyanti Tuan — all from the US$108,941.65.
Kamara’s report added that US$43,314 was paid to Rebecca Eze, who was a party to the case, and a further US$24,000 was signed for by Kruah and Tuan in the presence of Syney on December 13, 2011. Out of the US$24k, each lawyer in the case: Kruah, Tuan, and Lofen Kamara, was paid US$3,000 each, while US$1,186 was allocated for court expenses.
The breakdown from Kamara shows that out of US$108,941.65, which was just a fraction of the US$600 judgment Syney won for the Civil Law Court, he alone received a total of US$51,839.24. Meanwhile, Rebecca Eze, upon the order of the late Chief Justice Johnny Lewis, was paid US$43,314, with Kruah and his two other colleagues receiving a total of US$9,000, as well as US$1,186 being used for court expenses.
Source: Liberian Observer
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