RL by & thru the LACC v. Former Officials of LISGIS

Social Development Services Circuit Court

Case Details

Case Number: N/A

Start Date: N/A

Forms of Corruption: Procurement Irregularities, Misapplication, Fraud

Level of Government: National

Financial Impact

Amount Identified (USD): $1,000,795.00

Documents

LISGIS Download File

Nature of Case

Case Summary

Both, Lawrence George, former Deputy Director for Administration and Dominic Paye, former Comptroller of the Liberia Institute of Statistics and Geo Information Services (LISGIS) have been sentenced to five years imprisonment for their involvement in the misuse of public fund in the amount of US$1.795 million allocated for Liberia’s 2021 National Population and Housing Census. During the trial, the prosecution presented evidence pointing to Procurement irregularities, unsupported workshop payments, unauthorized compensation, and failure to remit. Criminal Court C Presiding Judge Ousman Feika handed the sentence after upholding a unanimous guilty verdict returned by the jury.

In addition to the prison sentences, the court ordered the two convicts Lawrence Geroge and Dominic Paye to restitute US$97,000, representing the outstanding balance of the disputed amount. The court also in its judgment noted that three Co-defendants, including Francis Wreh, former Director-General of LISGIS and others had earlier repaid US$30,898 to the Government of Liberia after he admitted to the charges brought against him.

The Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission investigation had earlier revealed that US$1.795 million could not be accounted for the Census related-activities between 2019-2022. This led to the indictment and Prosecution of the case in 2023.