Several staff members of Afriland First Bank have been indicted and jailed for theft in the bank.
By Lincoln G. Peters
Monrovia, Liberia; September 10, 2025 – The Liberian National Police (LNP) formally charged and forwarded to court Mr. G. Rufus Togba and his co-conspirators at Afriland First Bank in Monrovia with the crimes of theft of Property, Criminal Conspiracy, Criminal facilitation, & Money laundering, amounting to the illegal diversion of US$226,125.00 from two businesses’ accounts.
The case is now under judicial review, with charges of criminal conspiracy, economic sabotage, and theft expected. The accused have been remanded at Monrovia Central Prison.
According to the Police Charge Sheet released through the office of the Chief of the Economic Crime Section of the LNP, dated September 5, 2025, the defendants illegally diverted US$226,125.00 from the accounts of two businesses.
Police detailed that defendants G. Rufus Togba and his co-conspirators orchestrated unauthorized transfers from the accounts of Associated Builders & Contractors Inc. (ABC) and MY Sport Wear, both of which were held at Afriland First Bank.
In one instance, Togba allegedly withdrew US$14,400.00 from ABC’s account and redirected it to unrelated individuals. Further probing revealed a staggering US$114,200.00 siphoned from ABC’s account alone.
The scheme extended to MY Sport Wear, where US$11,925.00 was fraudulently transferred. Investigators say the bank’s internal safeguards — requiring a Processor, Verifier, and Validator for each transaction — were deliberately bypassed. Instead, staff allegedly colluded to approve and execute the transfers without proper documentation.
Shockingly, the Manager of Afriland First Bank’s Duala branch in Bushrod Island, James D. Porlor, allegedly admitted to receiving US$1,200.00 from one of the implicated employees, but failed to produce any supporting records.
To conceal the fraud, perpetrators reportedly disabled SMS alerts for ABC’s account, cutting off real-time notifications from both the Fiamah Branch and Headquarters, while allowing the scheme to continue undetected.
Authorities estimate that over US$939,000 in suspicious activity occurred at the bank between July and December 2024, prompting urgent calls for deeper audits and stronger banking oversight.
“On November 22nd, 2024, Mr. Robert Nkous, Chief Executive Officer/Manager Afriland Bank Liberia Ltd., on behalf of the said Bank filed a complaint with the Liberia National Police (LNP) through, Hon. Gregory O. W. Coleman, Inspector General, of the Liberia National Police of an alleged Bank fraud committed by one of its staffers, Mr. G. Rufus Togba against Afriland First Bank in the tune of $165,000, for an inquiry. The complaint was on the 26th of November 2024, attention to the Financial Crime Investigation Division (FCID), and in augmenting its complaint on Thursday, 19 December 2024, Afriland First Bank provided additional information from some of its customers namely; Associate Builders & Contractors, GEOSKOPE LTD and MY Sportswear, perpetrated by the same G. Rufus Togba, then Branch Manager” the Charge Sheet concluded.
The reported diversion of money from depositors is likely to spark panic in the public and erode confidence. Editing by Jonathan Browne
