Top: Moussa Abdul Karim, who The DayLight found allegedly evaded government taxes, at the opening of the Fisheries college at the University of Liberia in April. The DayLight/Franklin Nehyalor
By Varney Kamara
MONROVIA – Multiple government agencies are investigating a Lebanese businessman for allegedly committing forestry, financial, and immigration crimes. The news comes after a DayLight investigation found that Moussa Abdul Karim, the owner of several companies, smuggled timber, evaded taxes, and declared multiple nationalities, winning a World Bank contract worth nearly half a million dollars.
The Liberia National Police, the Liberia Immigration Service, the Liberia Revenue Authority, the Ministry of Labor, and the Association of Liberian Construction Contractors have started to investigate Karim separately. If found guilty, he risks several fines and prosecution.
Court documents show that the Financial Crimes Division of the Liberia National Police obtained a subpoena on May 5 for the tax records of a company Karim owns “to enhance an ongoing criminal investigation surrounding alleged money laundering.”
The police are seeking the tax records of Mak Timber Group Liberia Inc., a company Karim used to export a US$350,000 worth of timber in 2022.
The police’s probe follows up on evidence that The DayLight published that the export occurred outside the legal channel. One year after the export, Karim won a US$498,203.52 World Bank bid to construct a fisheries college at the University of Liberia, the newspaper reported.
Likewise, immigration authorities are investigating Karim’s alleged failure to obtain a resident permit. The DayLight reported that he allegedly defrauded the government of thousands of dollars by evading the permit for close to a decade. Under the Alien and Nationality Law, Karim is required to pay US$750 for a resident permit for the first time and US$350 for renewal.
“He appeared today and is due back here on Monday,” Augustine Wolo, an immigration officer, told The DayLight last Thursday.
Immigration authorities are also looking into suspicions that Karim has multiple nationalities. DayLight cited an immigration source and official business documents identifying him as Lebanese and Guinean.
Living in Liberia without a resident permit as a non-Liberian is a crime punishable by a fine or deportation. Using multiple identities constitutes fraud and can lead to expulsion, deportation, and criminal prosecution.
The Ministry of Labor said they were also investigating Karim for allegedly failing to obtain a work permit. The DayLight publication alleged that Karim had not gotten a work permit in the last nine years.
“We are investigating and will fine him because we have checked the system and did not find any payment records there,” said Ralphael Donokolo II, Assistant Minister for Alien Registration and Liberianization at the Ministry of Labor.
The Work Permit Regulation requires that non-Africans pay US$1,000 for a regular work permit, or pay fines ranging from $1,000 to $10,000.
The Liberia Revenue Authority, which collects all government taxes, disclosed it also launched an investigation.
“We are not taking this lightly. You can rest assured,” James Dorbor Jallah, Commissioner General of the Liberia Revenue Authority, told this reporter.
The Association of Liberian Construction Contractors (ALCC), which regulates construction companies’ activities, said it was probing whether Karim followed its rules. He defeated 20 other bidders, who were rejected due to noncompliance, to win the contract, administered by the National Fisheries and Aquaculture Authority.
“If we establish that he acutally operated outside of our membership, we will blacklist him and ensure that he doesn’t get any construction contract in Liberia,” said Sackie Johnson, ALCC’s president.
Joseph Bennett, Karim’s lawyer, did not respond to queries for comments.
This is a Community of Forest and Environmental Journalists of Liberia (CoFEJ) production.
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