AREPT Chairman, Cllr. Edwin Kla Martin, disclosed that intelligence gathered with international partners helped investigators identify the money. He said the taskforce is pursuing international litigation to secure its return to the Government of Liberia.

“Out of Liberia, we have identified US$10 million currently being stored in one of the British banks. We have been working with other international partners on this identification, and we are now in the process of going through international litigation,” Martin said during remarks in Monrovia.

The disclosure raises questions about how the money allegedly left Liberia, who controls the account and which public institution originally held the funds. The account provided does not identify the bank, the account holders or the transactions involved.

Martin said individuals found responsible for the alleged theft would face prosecution. However, identifying funds and recovering them are separate stages, and his announcement does not establish that the money has already been returned to Liberia.

In a separate published update, AREPT said it had filed a matter before a British court concerning approximately US$10 million under investigation. The taskforce presented that step as part of its effort to pursue suspected assets outside Liberia’s jurisdiction. 

A Mandate That Reaches Beyond Liberia

President Joseph Nyuma Boakai established the asset recovery mechanism through Executive Order No. 126 in 2024. Its mandate includes tracing suspected stolen public assets inside and outside Liberia, gathering evidence, initiating criminal prosecution and civil litigation, and returning confiscated assets following adjudication.

The mandate covers both current and former government officials, as well as private individuals who illegally acquired government property. It therefore extends beyond recovering government vehicles or buildings to pursuing public money allegedly converted to private use.

The taskforce says its international recovery work includes relationships with United Kingdom-based firms Grant Thornton, Omnia Strategy LLP, FTI Consulting and Blake Morgan. According to AREPT, these engagements support litigation and the specialist work required to pursue assets across jurisdictions.

That overseas effort places a substantial burden on investigators: they must connect the assets being pursued to evidence of wrongdoing and present cases capable of withstanding judicial scrutiny.

Rice Case Brings Domestic Investigations Into Focus

The overseas disclosure comes as AREPT’s domestic investigations receive renewed attention following guilty verdicts in the Saudi-donated rice case.

Reports of the October 9, 2026 verdict at Criminal Court “C” indicate that eight defendants were found guilty. Former Foreign Affairs Minister Dee-Maxwell Saah Kemayah and former Internal Affairs Minister Varney A. Sirleaf were among those convicted, although published accounts differ on the precise findings against individual defendants. The verdicts remain subject to applicable post-trial proceedings and appeals.

The prosecution followed an AREPT investigation conducted in collaboration with the Ministry of Justice. According to the taskforce’s June 2025 indictment announcement, the case concerned 29,412 bags of rice donated by Saudi Arabia in April 2023 for disaster victims and vulnerable communities. Investigators alleged that 25,054 bags were unlawfully diverted.

The rice prosecution and the British bank investigation involve separate allegations, but both fall within the taskforce’s stated responsibility to investigate the misuse of resources entrusted to public officials.

Recovery Claims Must Produce Results

Since its establishment, AREPT has maintained that its investigations should follow evidence rather than political affiliation. Martin previously pledged that no one would be falsely incriminated because of their political connections. 

The US$10 million disclosure now puts the taskforce’s international recovery work under closer public scrutiny. The central questions are whether investigators can establish the money’s origin, obtain the necessary court orders and secure its return.

For now, the funds remain the subject of an alleged theft and a recovery effort. A successful outcome would require more than locating an overseas account: it would require a legally established basis for returning the money to Liberia.

However, the jury failed to reach a unanimous verdict on theft of property and criminal conspiracy. Kemayah was neither convicted nor acquitted on those two counts, which remain unresolved.

The specific charges on which he was found guilty were not immediately available in the information provided.

The case concerns rice donated by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to feed disaster victims and vulnerable communities across Liberia.

According to the indictment, the donation consisted of 29,412 bags of 25-kilogram rice. Prosecutors alleged that 25,054 bags, valued at approximately US$425,918, were misappropriated or distributed outside authorized channels.

The prosecution presented witnesses and documents tracing the receipt, storage, transfer and distribution of the rice between the National Disaster Management Agency and the General Services Agency.

Prosecutors argued that irregularities in the handling of the donation resulted in the diversion of thousands of bags intended for people in need.

Kemayah denied stealing or unlawfully diverting the rice. In his testimony, he said his role was mainly to secure the donation through Liberia’s diplomatic relationship with Saudi Arabia.

He maintained that the government institutions assigned to handle the rice were responsible for its storage, management and distribution.

Defense testimony also challenged claims that Kemayah personally directed the transfer of rice to GSA warehouses. Former NDMA Board Chairman Varney A. Sirleaf described the transfer as an institutional decision intended to address storage and inventory concerns.

Sentencing details and any plans to appeal were not provided. The court’s handling of the unresolved theft and criminal conspiracy charges remains pending.