By Catherine B. Nyenkan
Monrovia, Feb. 28 (LINA) – The final report of the Presidential Investigation Team (PIT) set up by President George Weah to investigate the Liberian dollar banknote saga has discovered that some former and current officials of the Central Bank of Liberia (CBL) violated the law by endorsing the printing exces banknotes above the L$5,000,000,000 approved by the Legislature.
The report, which was read by the Head of Secretariat of the investigative team, Alex Cuffy, at a special press conference at the Ministry of Information on Thursday, shows that the CBL incurred extra cost of US$401,469.58 in the printing of the banknotes without the authorization of the National Legislature.
The report also shows that the CBL endorsed the printing of L$359,750,000 banknotes above the contracted amount of L$10,000,000,000 which led to the CBL incurring an extra cost of US$433,898.14.
« Officials of the CBL violated the law by their failure to report and account for L$2,645,000,000 which is the difference between L$18,151,000,000 discovered as the total amount of Liberian dollar banknotes printed and shipped to Liberia and that of the L$15,506,000,000 reported by the CBL as the total amount printed, shipped and received by the CBL, » the report pointed out.
According to the report, several middle management executives knowingly conspired with former senior management executives and current senior management executives of the CBL to conceal the true nature of the total and actual amount of Liberian dollars banknotes that was printed and received by the CBL.
« Several former and current officials of the CBL criminally fixed reports understating the full and actual amount printed and received by the CBL, » the report added.
LINA CBN/PTK
