Africa-Press – Liberia. An investigation conducted by the Daily Observer has revealed that what began as an initiative to combat fraudulent activities and credentials in the Liberian education system and intelligentsia has been allegedly tainted by blackmail, extortion, and claims of wealth creation.
Martin K. N. Kollie, lead campaigner for the Campaigners for Academic Crimes Court (CACC), who is known for his credential audit initiative, has recently come under scrutiny due to allegations of questionable wealth acquisitions. While Kollie’s efforts to expose academic misconduct and falsification of credentials have been applauded, doubts have been raised regarding the transparency of his financial activities.
Through investigations, Kollie and his CACC have allegedly exposed about 150 cases of fake credentials holders—some of whom are very high-placed influential political and business people—a development that has been met with both applauds and skepticism.
However, a man who has entirely operated under the canopy of a student leader came under the spotlight recently when he displayed on social media pictures of a monstrous housing project that he is undertaking.
The Activist’s substantial real estate acquisitions, which include a huge duplex reportedly valued at about US$75,000 to US$100,000, and an addition to six other finished apartments have, naturally, attracted attention.
Critics suggest that he may have exploited his position, and the information obtained from his investigations to extort money from individuals on his target list—proceeds he has used to fund his real estate investments.
They raised questions about Kollie’s source of income that allowed him to undertake substantial real estate projects. Kollie has rebuffed this accusation, noting that he is a man of clean character.
According to sources, Kollie’s alleged extortion scheme involves individuals believed to be his agents contacting his targets and implying that they possess information that could tarnish their reputations unless they make financial contributions. Those who refuse to comply are subsequently exposed publicly, adding weight to accusations of unethical practices.
Several victims have come forward, sharing their experiences with Kollie and his agents. One victim, who chose to remain anonymous, provided WhatsApp exchanges with one of Kollie’s agents, named Jartumah Siakeh (0778188546). The victim claimed that he was contacted by Siakeh, who initially identified himself as an investigative journalist, and that he had damaging information in his possession. Efforts to contact Siakeh to establish his connection to Kollie did not realize as he could not pick up his calls.
When the victim refused to fulfill their demands, his name was publicly exposed as holding fake academic credentials.
“That entire credential audit is an extortion spree,” one of Kollie’s victims said. “Martin only exposed people to holding fake degrees when they refused to give him money. Some of us are reputable people and we don’t want to indulge in a public fight with a kid who is looking for his living but wants to use criminal means to get to the top.”
This victim said he was contacted to make some money available so that his case could be trashed.
When Siakeh contacted the victim, he initially introduced himself as an investigative journalist and said that Martin Kollie had something on him. “I don’t want him to tarnish your reputation and this is why I’m contacting you. We need to talk so that I can kill that investigation,” the victim quotes the agent as saying. Investigation revealed that Siakeh is no investigative journalist but has a strong link with the Council of Patriots, a political group that Kollie was affiliated with.
The victim disclosed that less than a week after he refused to heed Siakeh’s extortion and blackmail demands, Kollie published his name with claims that he holds fake academic credentials. “From this point, I got to know that Kollie was operating an extortion cartel. The timeframe and everything Siakeh told me about was exactly what I saw.
Siakeh is reportedly one of many agents that Kollie has been allegedly using to extort money from his victims. A dozen of them contacted by the Daily Observer disclosed a similar pattern that Siakeh used.
“One of them also told me that they had something on me to publish, so I should meet him at a specific location. I declined twice. And I woke up one morning, and I saw my name all over the place that Martin Kollie had exposed me,” another victim who works as an administrator at a tertiary institution told the Observer. “I don’t care because I know that extortion spree that little boy was on.”
This victim, who said he was contacted by a man who only identified himself as Davies, said that he was shocked when he saw the real estate properties that Kollie displayed on social media. “This is when it dawned on me that this boy is not just assassinating people’s character but making very serious money out of this scam,” he said. “The Liberian people will get to know the real colors of these boys, how dangerous they are to this country. But because our country is so gullible, everybody buys into everything.”
This victim said the agent who contacted him refused to disclose his full name. “We talked for over a week and he refused to do that, though I kept inquiring. I knew that something was not right.”
Like these victims, many critics raised questions about his source of income that enabled him to construct such a monstrous project besides eight other apartments, though he had reportedly been a student all his life.
Kollie, in response, stated that his assets are open to public scrutiny and that he acquired them through legitimate means, citing employment with the United Nations and entrepreneurial ventures. He provided what he claimed to be evidence of his income and financial activities.
In a lengthy Facebook post, he shared details about their employment history and various sources of income during his time in Liberia and abroad. He claimed to have acquired his wealth through legitimate means, including working for the United Nations and engaging in entrepreneurial ventures. He provided what he termed as bank statements, reference letters, and tax documents as evidence of his income and financial activities.
“While in Liberia, I was employed by two different UN agencies (UNHCR and UNV-UNDP). I started working at the age of 21 as a national staff. I became a Data Entry Assistant, Database Assistant, and Field Assistant under different employment contracts. I went on several missions outside of my duty station and was paid thousands in DSA, besides my regular salary at GL5. Those who have worked for the UN know what I am saying,” he said.
Kollie also noted that he managed more than a hundred thousand USD to work along “with POCs on different programs in host communities as a field protection assistant. Never a day was I accused of corruption or stealing a dime,” he said. “What did I do with my resources after working very hard with the U.N.? I built two well-furnished apartments in Liberia. Those apartments have been under rent since 2016.
Between 2016 and 2023, he said he generated thousands of USD from both apartments. “Revenues from them have gone towards my latest project. The U.N. and my two apartments were/are my two major sources of my income,” he noted.
He also disclosed that he started building 4 more apartments in 2016 when he was employed as Regional Coordinator by The Carter Center Democracy Program (LEON Project). “Between 2016 and 2017, I worked on this project. I was a significant contributor to The Carter Center’s final report on Election and Democracy,” he said. “As regional coordinator, I managed tens of thousands of USD. I did that with a clean record once more, and was commended by Carter Center Project Director Barbara Smith for [my] excellent work.”
“Before I could flee into exile, the properties that I posted yesterday began. I fully completed the foundation and stopped them at the window level. What did my coming into exile do? It accelerated and/or fast-tracked the completion of those projects,” he said, claiming that he wants to use proceeds from his properties to educate Liberian youth.
To address concerns raised by critics, Kollie suggests hiring an independent auditor to thoroughly investigate his financial records. This would ensure a transparent and impartial assessment of his wealth acquisition.
However, Kollie’s revelations of work history and wealth accumulation contradict his initial assertions that he was an impoverished young man enduring hardship before leaving the country. He stated in the original post that he last lived in a slum community where he shared an outside bathroom with eight other households.
“Before I came here [to the USA], I lived in one room on 12th Street with an outside bathroom that 8 different households were using. Conditions there were very tough and appalling. But with education, hard work, and determination, I knew it was just a matter of time for those harsh conditions to change,” he said in the post that accompanied the monstrous duplex.
Kollie did not respond to email and WhatsApp inquiries sent by the Observer on Sunday and Monday about some of the allegations and whether he has any link with the so-called agents.
However, in addition to extortion, claims have also been made that Kollie engages in proxy wars, allegedly manipulating his credential audit process to aid those who pay for his services. This raises concerns about the impartiality of his investigations and the motivations behind his actions. Critics argue that Kollie may be acting as a hired gun, fighting on behalf of individuals seeking to undermine their professional rivals — a reported case in point being Madam Sara Beysolow Nyanti, who was recently nominated as Minister of Foreign Affairs. Kollie says Nyanti. Kollie claims that Nyanti, an international civil servant of over 22 years, possesses a fake degree and credentials. His claims have been challenged in many quarters.
While many believe that the review of academic credentials may be weaponized, targeting, intimidating, scandalizing, or potentially blackmailing his targets, these allegations have sparked doubts about the integrity and impartiality of Kollie’s work in exposing academic fraud, with some describing it as more about profit than legitimate credential audits.
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