How a Family Smuggled Timber for over a Decade

April 15, 2025

Top: Ben and Bennetta Wesseh run a timber smuggling business. Picture credit: Facebook/Ben Wesseh

By James Harding Giahyue

MONROVIA – On June 30 last year, Panther, a Liberian-registered container ship, docked at a port in Shanghai, China. Among its cargo was 21.37 cubic meters of timber from the Freeport of Monrovia. The wood had left Liberia on May 31, transiting in Abidjan, Ivory Coast for nine days before its final voyage to the Chinese southern shoreline.

The company shipping the wood was Liberia Export & Import Expert Inc., a Liberian firm owned by Ben Wesseh, a veteran customs broker. The consignment came from 613 pieces of wood that had been harvested in River Cess County, according to a permit authorizing the shipment.

The Shanghai shipment was one of several Liberia Export & Import Expert Inc. made in the last 14 years outside Liberia’s legal channel for timber export or “LiberTrace.” A February DayLight investigation found Mr. Wesseh and his daughter Benetta Ben Wesseh forged the permit and another document to smuggle the timber, which they denied. Now, the newspaper has found additional evidence, providing more details of the Wessehs world of illegal timber trafficking.

56 exports in eight years

Mr. Wesseh formed Liberia Export & Import Expert Inc. on April 11, 2011, to export timber, minerals, and other things, based on its article of incorporation and business registration certificate. He holds 60 percent of the company’s shares, with the remaining outstanding, while Ms. Wesseh runs the business.

Export data gathered by Volza, a UAE-based international trade firm shows that Liberia Export & Import Expert Inc., owned by Ben Wesseh, shipped 56 times between 2011 and 2019.

Records from the Ministry of Commerce & Industry, the Liberia Revenue Authority, and a shipping line show that the Wessehs exported timber multiple times in the last three years. The records further establish that they made two shipments in 2022 to a Taiwanese manufacturer called Strong Industrial Co. Ltd. The ministry’s records also show that a second consignment went to the same buyer. Also, the date on the first shipment matches the one on the ministry’s record.

But there were other exports than just those three, a lot more.

As of 2019—eight years after establishing their company—the Wessehs had exported timber and other goods 56 times, according to Volza, a UAE-based company that researches international trade data from over 90 countries.

Of that number, 47 went to Uganda to an individual named Chriss Bakara, four to India for a firm called Rajneesh Enterprises, and four to the United States for an individual named Makulah Kromah. A lone export went to Vietnam for Thanh Hoa Mineral Joint Stock Company. Freeport, opposite City Builders—the Wessehs’ business address in the Volza system—was consistent with the address in their company’s legal documents.

The evidence shows the Wessehs traded expensive ironwood, the type used in outdoor construction and shipbuilding for their resistance to wear and tear. Volza documented that the Wessehs’ lone Vietnamese export was 20 cubic meters of tali (Erythrophleum ivorense), a wood used for frameworks that are exposed to bad weather.

Volza’s data on the Wessehs were the same as the ones compiled by ImportKey, a firm that tracks American shipments, and Trademo, a US-based company that provides supply chain intelligence.

Amid the Wessehs company’s well-documented export history, there is no trace of Liberia Export & Import Expert Inc. in LiberTrace, Liberia’s legal channel for the timber trade. A LiberTrace search screenshot shows the company is not registered there, proof it has never used the system before.

This violates several laws and regulations, including the Regulation on Establishing a Chain of Custody System, meant to prevent illegal Liberia timber from entering international markets. By doing so, the Wessehs evaded a significant amount of taxes, including land rental, harvesting, transfer, stumpage and other fees.

Fake Document

Finding additional evidence of the Wessehs’ illegal activities was much harder than detecting the forgery of the Forestry Development Authority (FDA) and the Ministry of Agriculture’s documents to smuggle the Shanghai consignment.

The newspaper began with the FDA document. First, it was addressed to Benetta Ben [Wesseh] but greeted her as “Mr. Ben.” Then it was signed by Mike Doryen in July 2024, five months after he had been replaced by Rudolph Merab as the FDA Managing Director. It miscounted the period July 25 – September 25 as 45 days, instead of 60 days. Turns out, a revenue receipt number detailed in the permit had been issued to one Albert Chie, perhaps not the Grand Kru senator, who denied knowledge of it or any affiliation with the Wessehs.

The Wessehs did a better job faking a phytosanitary certificate, a document that certifies that timber being exported is pests-free. Though the certificate is a requirement for timber export or import, it is rarely issued, based on The DayLight’s review of several companies’ tax histories.

Armed with that information, the newspaper contacted the quarantine department at the Ministry of Agriculture, which issues such certificates. Unsurprisingly, the department denied it issued the Wessehs the document.

“I want to categorically state here that this document is fake,” said Lawrence Massaquoi, the deputy director of the quarantine department. “I did not issue this certificate. People are using our names to carry on these criminal acts.”

Other evidence suggested that the Wessehs sold the forged documents to other potential smugglers. A screenshot of a WhatsApp conversation between Mr. Wesseh and an individual reveals Mr. Wesseh solicited over US$1,350, including US$325 for a pair of FDA documents and US$75 for a phytosanitary certificate.

Liberia has one of the world’s fastest deforestation rates due to illegal activities. The DayLight/James Harding Giahyue

The DayLight obtained audio recordings of those unscrupulous deals. In one recording, Ben Wesseh provided details of forged documents he had sent to a potential customer. His count of the documents matched the ones The DayLight obtained.

“I sent the FDA paper for you first. Then, I sent the agriculture paper two or three times,” Mr. Wesseh can be heard saying.

Interestingly, Liberia Export & Import Expert Inc.’s tax history shows that the Wessehs have only paid three times for timber exports. They also paid for a phytosanitary certificate once. The timber payments occurred in 2017, and the certificate two years after.

No Actions

The Wessehs’ illegal activities contribute to Liberia’s deforestation, one of the highest in the world. From 2002 to 2023, Liberia lost 347,000 hectares of primary forest, according to the Global Forest Watch, which tracks global deforestation. In that same period, River Cess— where the Shanghai-bound timber were harvested—lost 28,000 hectares of primary forest.

Mr. Wesseh did not turn out for a scheduled interview. However, in a February WhatsApp interview, Ms. Wesseh denied any wrongdoing. “First of all, our company has never and will never get involved with fraud or exploiting [the] government,” said she.

“Take care.” She and her father locked their Facebook profiles, where the newspaper had gotten their pictures.

It has been about two months since the Wessehs were first exposed, yet authorities have not acted significantly. The DayLight has written the National Customs Brokers Association of Liberia (NCBAL), the FDA and the Ministry of Agriculture. However, none has taken any actions, except that the ministry lodged a complaint with the NCBAL.

This is a usual outcome for forestry. A case against a Caldwell syndicate recently jailed has not gone to court. That is the same as the one against alleged smugglers who turned the Central Agriculture Research Institute into a sawmill. Before those two, in 2022, two Korean timber smugglers walked scot-free after prosecutors had failed to indict them.

Father and Daughter Involved In Criminal Timber Trafficking

February 13, 2025

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Top: Mr. Ben Wesseh and his daughter Benneta Ben Wesseh, a father-and-daughter duo who forges official documents and smuggles timber out of Liberia. Facebook: Benneta Ben

By Varney Kamara

MONROVIA – The DayLight has obtained forged documents used by an unscrupulous father-daughter duo to smuggle timber out of Liberia. The newspaper also found evidence that the duo solicits money from other individuals.

Ben Wesseh, a customs officer at the Freeport of Monrovia and Benetta Ben Wesseh, his daughter, forged export permits and a log-disinfection certificate to smuggle timber to China.

Based on one of the documents, Ms. Wesseh, a resident of Caldwell, smuggled or attempted to smuggle 21.3 cubic meters of timber blocks known as “Kpokolo” last July. The consignment was part of 613 logs harvested in River Cess.

“You are further requested to work closely with relevant government agencies…who will monitor and supervise the process,” read the forged document.

There were grammatical errors that caught our reporters’ attention. However, the most noticeable evidence of forgery was that the document was purportedly signed by ex-FDA Managing Director Mike Doryen. By July last year, Doryen had been replaced by Rudolph Merab five months earlier.

The validity timeframe of the document was also questionable. It tried to imitate a special export permit the FDA issued for kpokolo that lasted for a year. However, this document lasted for only 45 days.

But the Wessehs did not know that the FDA had stopped issuing such export permits following a “ban” on kpokolo in 2022. However, the illegal trade persists. Recently, another Caldwell syndicate was jailed following two years of investigation.

There were other inconsistencies, though.

The forgers miscounted July 25 to September 25, 2024, as 45 days, instead of 60 days. This and all the other discrepancies show that the Wessehs focused on creating the documents rather than making them look convincing.

The fake timber export permit mentioned identification numbers for two receipts. When reporters checked, the payments had been made for or by two other individuals, including ex-Senate Pro-Tempore Albert Chie. The senator denied knowing the Wessehs.

After unraveling the forged export permit, reporters concentrated on the log disinfection or phytosanitary certificate purportedly issued by the Ministry of Agriculture.

Reporters contacted the quarantine department at the ministry, which issues the certificate, a requirement for all exports that is rarely enforced. Unsurprisingly, the department denied it issued Ms. Wesseh the document.

One of the forged documents, naming ex-FDA Managing Director Mike Doryen as the current head of the institution.

The Wessehs appeared to have done a better job with the certificate than with the export permit but slipped. Turns out, the stamp they used was no longer in use by the department.

“I want to categorically state here that this document is fake,” said Lawrence Massaquoi, the deputy director of the quarantine department. “I did not issue this certificate. People are using our names to carry on these criminal acts. We must get to the bottom of this,” added Massaquoi, who is mentioned on the bogus certificate.

The ministry has launched an investigation into the matter.

‘Take care’

Other evidence suggests that not only Mr. Wesseh supports his daughter but also sells forged documents to other people. In a WhatsApp message to a prospective customer, Mr. Wesseh shared a list of prices for several documents, including US$200 for an export permit and US$75 for a phytosanitary certificate. In all, Wesseh charged 2,370 to smuggle a 40-foot container.

The prices on the document were consistent with what sources familiar with the illegal trade told The DayLight. However, to rule out any alibi, reporters obtained an audio recording that backs up that conversation.

Screenshot of Mr. Ben Wesseh’s WhatsApp chat with an individual.

In the recording, Mr. Wesseh can be heard reinforcing the prices. “I sent the FDA paper for you first. Then, I sent the agriculture paper two or three times.” The pages of the documents matched the details Wesseh had provided.

In another audio recording, Mr. Wesseh can be heard pitching a business proposal to an individual, bragging about having connections at various public offices.

The National Customs Brokers Association of Liberia, of which the Wessehs are members, has launched a separate investigation into the situation.

The Wessehs deny any wrongdoing. After evading all efforts for an interview, Mr. Wesseh and Ms. Wesseh later replied to queries for comments.

The older Wesseh said he did not forge or share the documents and was investigating the matter himself but refused to call his company’s name.

Ms. Wesseh said the same thing.

“First of all, our company has never and will never get involved with fraud or exploiting [the] government. Instead of running with unclear information, the best will be to find the office and speak to us in person,” said Ms. Wessh via WhatsApp.

“Having said this, take care.”

The criminal Wesseh duo bears a striking resemblance to a syndicate comprising custom brokers and two Korean nationals who were jailed in 2022 but never indicted.

Sinoe Superintendent Supports Illegal Oil Palm Operations

October 15, 2024

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Top: Sinoe County’s Superintendent Peter Wleh Nyensuah supports the illegal operations of Liberia Natural Produce Incorporated (LNPI) without the Liberian government’s approval. The DayLight/James Harding Giahyue

By Varney Kamara

GREENVILLE – Sinoe County’s Superintendent Peter Wleh Nyensuah is backing an oil palm company’s illegitimate operations against a local community demanding its rights and holding the firm accountable.

In 2022, Liberia Natural Produce Incorporated (LNPI) purchased a palm plantation in the Tarsue Chiefdom of Sanquin District from Equatorial Palm Oil (EPO). However, LNPI operates the plantation without the Liberian government’s approval, sparking a protest.

In a letter last month, seen by The DayLight, Nyensuah urged Tarsue to sign an MoU LNPI proposes, dismissing the community’s concerns over rights abuses and the LNPI’s illegitimacy.

“It is my strongest anticipation that you will work with the investors in our communities,” wrote Nyensuah. He even suggested he was open to playing a role in negotiating the MoU or drafting a new one.

Nyensuah had launched an investigation after tension brewed in the area following the community’s complaint.

He based his decision partly on a previous MoU that locals had signed with LNPI. “The Tarsue community having received benefits under the now expired MoU from LNPI, the community lacks the standing to question the legitimacy of the LNPI,” Nyensuah added.

But his reason for his decision is faulty. The document he referenced only gave LNPI an exclusive right to purchase oil from local producers, not to operate the plantation. A DayLight investigation established that LNPI likely used the document to gain control of the plantation during last year’s heated presidential elections.

In his finding, Nyensuah claimed that the government and LNPI amended the 2008 EPO concession agreement in March. However, there is no public record to support that claim.

Men at work at and palm oil mill in Shampay Camp, Tarsue Chiefdom. The DayLight/James Harding Giahyue

The government and LNPI have said the company’s operations have not been authorized. The Ministries of Agriculture and Justice, responsible for authorizing oil palm concessions, said it was unaware of LNPI’s operations. LNPI itself admitted that in a June interview with this newspaper, a fact it included in the draft MoU to Tarsue.

‘Bogus MoU’

Nyensuah’s unlawful decision has inflamed the situation in Tarsue and may have soured his relationship with the community.

“We are rejecting the MoU because it is a bogus agreement. We want to see LNPI’s Concession Agreement with the government,” said Ericson Pyne, a youth leader. We want to see their letter of authorization.

“I think Superintendent Nyensuah is not capable of leading this county because, as a leader of the county, before coming up with such a proposal, you must have properly read and understood previous agreements. We totally disagree with his suggestion,” added Pyne.

Pyne’s comments reflect the views of the people of Tarsue who have endured threats and intimidations at the hands of LNPI, with armed police forcing people out of the plantation.

The DayLight investigation revealed that LNPI violates the Land Rights Act and the principles of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), which writes rules for the oil palm industry worldwide.

The law and the RSPO rules recognize ancestral landownership and communities’ right to consent to projects intended for traditional territories.

Nyensuah did not respond to The DayLight’s queries for comments on the matter.

Investors Invade Sinoe Palm Plantation

August 10, 2024

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Top: An elevated view of an oil palm mill at a plantation Equatorial Palm Oil (EPO) abandoned five years ago. The DayLight/Derick Snyder

By James Harding Giahyue, Derick Snyder and Varney Kamara

In August 2022, Liberia Natural Produce Incorporated (LNPI) purchased an abandoned palm plantation from Equatorial Palm Oil (EPO) in a deal worth approximately US$445,000

Publicity of the deal was scanty, limited to a LinkedIn post, a reference on LNPI’s website and an announcement hidden in EPO’s parent company’s annual reports.

The Liberian government has not approved of the takeover, with the Ministry of Agriculture and the lawmaker of that district unaware of the deal.

Yet, LNPI is forcibly operating the plantation, including a prewar oil palm mill. With the help of armed police officers, the company is throwing residents out of the plantation.

The company disregards local communities’ ownership of the land and their right to consent to the takeover.

SHAMPAY CAMP, Sinoe County – In June, armed police officers ordered Felecia Wesseh and other villagers to leave an abandoned palm plantation. A company called the Liberia Natural Produce Incorporated (LNPI) told the residents they were taking over a portion of the 8,000-hectare plantation from Equatorial Palm Oil (EPO), which had run it in 2019. Wesseh and other residents exploited the plantation and transformed the region into an artisanal palm oil hub ever since.

“I feel bad because number one, for me, this is my 25 years in this area. “The way the Emergency Response Unit [of the Liberia National Police] is coming here to take people from this place is not good,” said Wesseh, a mother in her late 30s. The DayLight interviewed her at her shop in Sankwehn Estate in Tarsue Chiefdom, Sanquin District locals have called Shampay Camp since the 1960s. A crowd of angry residents quickly gathered, questioning the legality of the takeover.

“By right, if you own the plantation or buy the area, I expect the Superintendent… to come with one of the lawmakers to show the people to us. Nobody brought them to show them to us,” Wesseh added.

Wesseh was right. There is evidence that LNPI bought the plantation from EPO. However, no one in the Sanquin District is aware of the takeover, and it has not been approved by the Liberian government.

In August 2022, Kuala Lumpur Kepong Berhad (KLK) of Malaysia, EPO’s owner, sold the plantation to Konnex Investments Limited, the parent company of LNPI, for approximately US$445,000, according to KLK’s annual report for that year. Uday Pilani, Konnex’s owner posted the deal on LinkedIn and LNPI mentioned it on its website a month earlier.

EPO owned the plantation through its subsidiary Liberia Forest Product Incorporated (LFPI). LFPI signed the concession with the Liberian government in 2008 for 50 years, covering 8,400 hectares. However, in 2019, EPO ceased operations because there “were insufficient plantable areas,” making it “uneconomic” to run. It devalued the plantation by RM145.3 million (approximately US$32.2 million).

Scores of local palm oil producers, including Felecia Wesseh, depend on the plantation, which covers about 4,000 hectares of palm trees. The DayLight/James Harding Giahyue

But the deal was not entirely transparent. KLK, required to declare such transactions under Bursa Malaysia or the Malaysian stock exchange rules, announced the takeover in its 2022 annual report. However, there is no record that EPO—under a similar obligation with the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) of the London Stock Exchange—publicized the takeover. This likely breaches AIM’s rule, which mandates companies to publish such transactions. EPO did not return questions for comments regarding the takeover and KLK said it would respond.

‘Into a hole’

The Shampay Camp part of the story began on August 23, 2022, when LNPI signed a six-month memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the people of Sanquin District. Per the MoU, LNPI bought a five-gallon tin of palm oil for L$1,300 and L$1,500. LNPI paid the community US$6,000 and paved a major road there.

Local palm oil dealers had welcomed the agreement as LNPI prices more than double the L$600 artisanal palm oil producers had set, while chiefs and elders saw it as an opportunity for development.

“When they came, it was correct because they paid our royalties,” recalled Alfred Pyne, an elder of Sanquin.

But the MoU was too attractive to be true. While the community was entitled to several benefits, the MoU restricted LNPI to “purchasing of oil palm products such as crude palm oil, palm kernels and other palm derivatives,” and to operate “without any embarrassment and undue restrictions.”

LNPI’s true intent surfaced when it unilaterally extended the deal by three months. Following a year of anger, the parties met in January this year when LNPI finally disclosed it had taken over the plantation. The company was not merely a party to an MoU; it was claiming possession of Shampay Camp.

LNPI, aided by armed police officers, asked artisanal palm oil producers out of a plantation abandoned in 2019 by Equatorial Palm Oil (EPO) in Sanquin District, Sinoe County. The DayLight/James Harding Giahyue

“When we saw Baccus Wiah with LNPI, I said, ‘A good thing is coming,’ not knowing we [were] getting into a hole,” said Eric Gbayon, the Township Commissioner of Tarsue Chiefdom. He was referencing LNPI’s administrative manager, who hails from that region.

In the end, the MoU was a disguise. By August 2022, LNPI had already signed the takeover, a negotiation it had started six months earlier, according to a document obtained by The DayLight. It had imported 117 consignments of electrical equipment and other instruments as of the 17^th of last month. They were imported from India, Pilani’s home country, according to Volza, a Russian online marketplace, citing international data.

Workers at a palm oil mill recently rehabilitated by the Liberia Natural Produce Incorporated. The DayLight/James Harding Giahyue

The DayLight videotaped workers test the mill, which has a capacity of five metric tons of crude palm oil per hour. For the first time since the start of the First Liberian Civil War in 1989, smoke billowed from the facility’s chambers into the gloomy Shampay Camp skies.

Before it disclosed the takeover to the people, LNPI had obtained an environmental permit from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) after conducting an environmental and social impact assessment (ESIA) between February and May last year. It has asked for a renewal of the permit to extend the mill.

‘Not heard from them’

Tension has been brewing in Tarsue, particularly after the news of the takeover broke. After LNPI broke the news, locals asked to meet the company in Kommanah Town. LNPI instead requested to host the meeting at its headquarters in Shampay Camp, citing “continued threats of violence” from the community.

“If you are interested in meeting with me, please let me know so a time can be set that will be mutually convenient for both parties,” LNPI’s executive officer John Collie penned Paramount Chief John Koah a reply, seen by The DayLight.

Several receipts were issued by LNPI as part of its scam to operate a plantation it took over from Equatorial Palm Oil in August 2022 but has not been endorsed by the Liberian government. The DayLight/James Harding Giahyue

Months later, locals lodged a complaint with Representative Alex Noah of Sinoe County District Three over LNPI’s illegal activities. In their letter, they listed the company’s takeover of the plantation and renovation of the mill without their consent. “We need our timely intervention concerning this matter before things go out of hand,” the letter read. Noah said he was unaware of LNPI’s operations and would visit the plantation when he returned from his travels out of the country.

LNPI’s disregard for the community’s right to consent violates the Land Rights Act, which recognizes ancestral land rights. Locals’ consent is a crucial principle of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), the watchdog of the global oil palm industry. Liberia has even domesticated the RSPO’s principles and criteria.

The Liberia Land Authority (LLA), which plays a role in land-related concessions, had recommended that LNPI get the locals’ consent but the company ignored the advice. LNPI had visited the LLA in Monrovia to seek counsel.

LLA’s Chairman Adams Manobah told The DayLight in a WhatsApp interview he had advised the community to first “formalize its land ownership before transacting business with an outsider or any investor.”

Manobah added, “Since that encounter, I have not heard of them.” Wiah did not respond to emailed questions on that conversation.

In an earlier interview at the company’s headquarters, Wiah justified LNPI’s use of force. “Due to the violence that took place here, since we have completed the factory and are ready for operation, we decided to bring [armed police officers] to be here to serve as [a] deterrent,” he said. “Our people are afraid of gunmen.”

Another elevated view of Shampay Camp with the smoke billowing from a palm oil mill at the background. The DayLight/Derick Snyder

Wiah admitted the government had not approved the LNPI’s takeover. An ex-EPO employee, however, Wiah claimed the approval was being processed. “The Ministries of Justice, and Agriculture have signed,” he told The DayLight. It is left with the Ministry of Finance, then it will go to the Senate, and finally to the President for signature.”

The Ministry of Agriculture dismisses Wiah’s claim. “It is important that we address this lack of awareness immediately,” Comfort Whitfield of the ministry’s communication division said in an email.

Editor’s Note: This is the first of a two-part series on illegal oil palm operations in the Sanquin District, Sinoe County. The second part will focus on the legality of the existence of Liberia Natural Produce Incorporated and its parent company Konnex Investments Ltd.

Tag: Ministry of Agriculture

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