Breaking News: Court Orders Retrial in Economic Sabotage Case Involving Ex-Finance Minister Tweah & Others

Monrovia, Liberia: Criminal Court 'C' at the Temple of Justice has overturned the initial ruling by jurors that exonerated former Finance Minister Samuel Tweah and a few others in the US$6.2 million Economic Sabotage case.

Presiding Judge Ousman Feika on Tuesday, July 21, 2026 handed down a verdict following months of hearings, declaring a jury tempering in the initial ruling and ordering a retrial of the case.

The verdict now brings the Economic Sabotage case involving Former Minister Tweah and four co-defendants versus the government of Liberia back to a refresh start.

Tweah and others were indicted and tried on six primary charges including economic sabotage, theft of property, money laundering, criminal conspiracy, criminal facilitation, and the misuse of public funds.

These charges stemmed from allegations that the officials illegally transferred and misappropriated approximately US$6.2 million in public funds earmarked for national security operations in 2023.

The pandora box for a retrial argument of retrial opened some after jurors claimed others' decisions were financially induced. That led to the government of Liberia through the Ministry of Justice filing a petition for hearing into reported jury tempering and possible retrial of the case.

With Judge Feika ending months of hearings with a retrial verdict in the case, lead defense Counsel Arthur Johnson has taken exception to the matter, and vowed to appeal the judge's decision before the Supreme Court.

Johnson argued that the judge lacks the constitutional ground to recall the jurors after they were being disbanded to initiate a hearing over allegations regarding the case.

"All the laws the judge cited, there has been nowhere where the jury has been disbanded, and the judge has the jurisdiction to call the jurors back to question them on how and why they voted how they voted. I am taking an appeal to the Supreme Court", he said.

Meanwhile, the Tweah and others remain subject to investigation until the Supreme Court can decide the appeal expected to be filed by the defense counsel.