Liberia: Sen. Dillion Denies Receiving US$30K

Montserrado County Senator Abraham Darius Dillon has vowed to resign if anyone can prove that he received US$30,000 in cash or a loan by the government as alleged by Montserrado County District #8 Representative, Moses Acarous Gray. 

“I am authorizing all banking institutions across the country to uncover and expose any illegal financial services bearing his signature,” Dillon maintained. “I will turn over his Senatorial Seat to the government as of today if they provide a document for the US$30,000 loan they claimed I took.”

Gray had said that Dillon, along with every member of the Liberian Legislature, had received US$30,000 — as approved by the Legislature in the fiscal year 2022 budget. The money, which totals US$3.6 million, was meant for “legislative engagements and public accessibility” but Dillon and his colleagues in the Senate have claimed that they are not aware of such allocation.

Gray, on the other hand, believes his Senate colleagues are lying and, as a result, they must tell the truth because the money did not fall from the sky to get into the budget. 

“Every member of the House of Representatives and the Liberian Senate has received US$30,000. This is the second time in five years we have received this money,” Gray, who represents the people of Montserrado County District#8 told Spoon TV a fortnight ago. “Our accounts were credited and I challenged any legislator, whether a senator or representative, to deny this.”

“It’s time for Senator Dillon to admit to Liberians that he received yet another US$30,000 because he professes to be the “light” of the Liberian Senate. It’s time for people to be sincere to those who elected them rather than pretending to be a “saint.”

However, in response to Gray's accusation, Dillion has not only denied receiving such money but has also offered to quit immediately if anyone in the public can establish that he did get such money as reported by his parliamentary colleagues.

“Let me be blunt, I have received no US$30k.  Since I became Senator, I have only taken a USD 10K loan from GT Bank in October 2019 and have since paid. Since then to date, I have NEVER taken a loan from any bank or any other source in and out of Liberia."

He challenged any bank in the country to bring to the public any amount of money in the form of a loan associated with his name that is to be paid by the government. The Senator went on to call on the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning, institutions, or individuals to expose to the public any such “illegal financial transactions.”

According to the Senator, he’s being attacked by the ruling party surrogates because he has raised the bar high for public officials and his recent criticism against the cabinet retreat and the recast budget caught them off guard.

He then challenged President  George Weah and his officials to show records of the US$30,000 given to him and he vowed to resign from his position as Senator if such evidence is brought to the public, he concluded. 

But Gray reacted once more, describing Dillon as “a notorious criminal who has no integrity “as a national leader for denying receipt of US$30,000 for Legislative engagement, when the said amount is contained in the final 2022 Budget, under the budget code-0563, in the amount US$3.6 million.”

Meanwhile, Dillion’s denial of Gray’s allegation has been backed by the Senate, which has clarified that at “no point in time” did members of the Senate receive US$30,000 each for Legislative Engagement in the 2022 Budget.

The Senate, in a statement, said the clarification was being made by the Chairman and Co-Chairman of the Senate Statutory Committee on Ways, Means Finance and Budget, Bomi and Bong County Senators Morris Saytumah and Prince Moye, respectively.

According to the Senators, they were under a strict mandate from the Senate Plenary to avoid including the said amount in the current budget, and, as such, it was never allotted. The Senate decision came after the legislature faced severe criticism the in previous budget year for accepting a similar sum when the country was facing the coronavirus outbreak.

Editor's note: The earlier version of this story wrongly quoted Dillion as saying that a US$10,000 loan from the UBA in 2022, instead of GTbank in 2019.