Central Bank Falsifies Documents

The Central Bank of Liberia , the arm of government responsible to make monetary policy has been exposed in a scandal in which it allegedly falsified documents belonging to former employees of the erstwhile National Bank of Liberia .

According to information gathered by this paper, in 1998, over one hundred employees of the former National Bank of Liberia were send on compulsory leave while preparation were being made to establish a full fledge central bank of Liberia. The employees, according to the information, were informed at the time that they would be recalled upon the establishment of the new central bank.

However, upon the formation of the Central Bank of Liberia , the employees were rather redundant and paid monies that did not commensurate with their tenures and positions, information maintained. Every efforts made by the former employees to resist the banks action felt on deaf ears, a spokesman of the group told this paper. Now with the inception of Ellen Johnson led government, the former employees have sought legal redress for their illegal dismissal and underpayment, with a lawsuit filed with the Labor court at the Ministry of Labor.

During one of the proceedings at the court, the presiding Judge subpoenaed the management of Central Bank of Liberia to present to the court the full number of employees sacked and amounts paid to them and all documents relating to the case.

It was during the presentation of the documents that the former NBL's employees realized that the documents presented to the court regarding payments made to them were falsified.

According to some of the employees who spoke with this paper during the hearing at the court, the document presented by the lead lawyer of the bank Isaac Wanasue were criminally manufactured to make a case against them.

They indicated that they intend to file a criminal suit against the bank for creating documents that do not represent the real case. They said the action of the bank is criminal and undermines the credibility of the institution.

According to them, they were paid on checks drawn on the International Trust Company (ITC) and challenged the Central Bank of Liberia to reconcile the documents turned over to the court with the checks issued to each affected person at the ITC Bank, now International Bank (IB).

Our reporter who went at the Central Bank to get the side of the management on the allegation was denied entry to the bank.

Security officers who were on duty at the reception desk told him that the CBL's management would not comment on the issue and advised him to contact the bank's lawyers.

The former NBL's employees are demanding over US$1 million in damages for unfair labor practices.

It can be recalled that the former Government of the Central bank of Liberia, Charles Greene authorized the former Chief Executive Officer of the Bank, Nathaniel Patray to look into the issue of settling monies owed the former NBL's employees after he was advised by In-House Lawyer Isaac Wanasue and retainer counsel Federick Cherue on ground that the former affected people were wrongfully demised.

Interestingly, however, it is the same Isaac Wonasue who is defending the bank against the very employees he said were wrongfully dismissed. Investigation continues.