Liberia: Nathaniel Barnes Implicated in Senate Secretary Singbeh’s US$5M Case

The Ministry of Justice has added the name of former Liberian Ambassador to the US, Nathaniel Barnes, to a list of several individuals that includes the Secretary of the Liberian Senate, Nanborlor Singbeh, and the former executive director of the National Investment Commission (NIC), George Wisner, who are expected to defend their alleged involvement with the mismanagement of US$5 million, at Criminal Court ‘C’, in Monrovia.

The indictment, dated January 17, 2022, claimed that during the period of November 1, 2014, Barnes' consulting company, Aurora Solutions Inc (ASI), and the MHM Eko Liberia, a Czech Republic owned mining company, entered into and executed a consulting and retainer agreement, in which ASI agreed to provide special professional consulting services as MHM Eko agreed to pay a negotiated price for the services.

In the agreement, according to the indictment, Barnes was going to be paid a monthly consulting fee of US$1,500; afterwards, the consulting services fees would increase to US$2,500, on a condition, if the company starts to make production.

The parties agreed for Barnes to liaise with appropriate government agencies and entities, on behalf of the MHM Eko, to insure that MHM Eko receives a tax holiday and other tax breaks, as well as duty waivers as appropriate and all other investment incentives, according to the indictment.

The indictment also charged the defendants with multiple offenses that include economic sabotage, theft of property, forgery and criminal conspiracy.

Barnes’ inclusion was triggered by the prosecutors’ alleged discovery of the consulting services agreement, dated November 1, 2014 between Barnes' company, Aurora Solutions Inc, and MHM Eko Liberia, a Czech Republic owned mining company.

By then Singbeh was the president and chief executive officer (CEO), holding a 30% share in the company, while Singbeh’s two Czech Republic investors, Martin Miloschewsky and Pavel Miloschewsky, hold 35% share each, making the Czech brothers the joint majority owners of the MHM Eko Liberia.

The indictment, which focuses on economic sabotage, will affect not just Barnes, Singbeh and Wisner, but also several other co-defendants.

According to the indictment, Barnes, also a former minister of finance, in fulfillment of the agreement, created an avenue in which MHM Eko managed to benefit from the government’s duty-free privileges, in 2016.

By then, MHM Eko’s portfolio was to operate a rock quarry, but did not reach the criteria under the Amended Consolidated Tax Act of 2011 to benefit from the government duty-free privileges.

Besides, Barnes, during his time as minister of finance, worked along with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to formulate a new national tax code for the country. According to the prosecutors, Barnes is fully aware that MHM Eko Liberia does not qualify for the duty-free privileges, but went ahead to influence the relevant agencies to have the company to benefit from it.

Prosecutors further claimed that rock quarry by the act is excluded from the listing of companies that qualified for the special investment incentives.

Afterwards, the prosecutors alleged that Singbeh began to abuse the duty-free privileges, in 2016, he shipped equipment and materials costing the country over US$410,050.50 in tax revenue.

“As a result of the incentives scam with Wisner and his incentive officer Othello B Karr, awarded the amount of US$16,853.39 as payable, but, due to the duty free privileges document, Singbeh managed to pay US$8,261, of which they cost the government to lose the amount of US$8,582.39, and including another shipment under the scam duty free privileges,” according to the prosecutors.

“Singbeh, with the advice of Barnes, also shipped several other mining and non mining equipment using the incentives without paying the relevant taxes,” the prosecutors added.

The case against Barnes, Wisner, Singbeh and other defendants, starts from June 2013, up to and including July 19, when the two Czech Republic investors, Martin and Pavel Miloschewsky, expressed interest in the country's private sector with the intent to invest in the production of crushed rocks.

The Miloschewsky brothers were introduced to Singbeh by the former Czech Consul General to Liberia, Karel Socher. Singbeh would later become a shareholder in the company, MHM Eko Liberia, as well as its president and chief executive officer.

Also, prosecutors claimed that the investors transferred the total amount of US$5 million in both cash and mining equipment through the two banking institutions, Ecobank Liberia limited and the Afriland First Bank. The mining equipment was shipped through the Freeport of Monrovia.