By Lincoln G. Peters
TEMPLE OF JUSTICE, Monrovia, May 12, 2026 — Liberia’s Solicitor General, Cllr. Augustine Fayiah has reacted to the jury verdict in the high-profile corruption case involving former Finance and Development Planning Minister Samuel D. Tweah, Jr. and co-defendants, saying the court has spoken and “justice has been served.”
In a brief interview with New Dawn late Sunday following the verdict, Cllr. Fayiah said the prosecution recorded mixed outcomes, with some defendants convicted and others acquitted. He stressed that the decision rests with the jury and the court—not the parties.
“Justice has been served. We have guilty verdicts for some, and for others they were released. This is not for us to decide; the court has decided,” Cllr. Fayiah said.
The verdict was returned by a 15-member jury on Friday, May 8, 2026. Jurors acquitted former Minister Tweah of five charges, including criminal conspiracy, economic sabotage, criminal facilitation, theft of public funds, and money laundering. Co-defendant D. Moses P. Cooper, former comptroller at the Financial Intelligence Agency (FIA), was also acquitted.
The jury, however, found former Acting Justice Minister and Solicitor General Cllr. Nyenati Tuan guilty of theft of public funds and criminal facilitation.
Former National Security Advisor to ex-President George M. Weah, Mr. Jefferson Karmoh, was found guilty of criminal facilitation and criminal conspiracy, but acquitted of economic sabotage and theft of public funds, according to the verdict.
The ruling has sparked mixed reactions among members of the public. While some observers allege the acquittal is selective and have called for a review of the outcome, others say the process was transparent and have praised the jury and the courts.
In 2024, a Montserrado County grand jury, acting on a complaint from the Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission (LACC) through the Ministry of Justice, indicted several former officials of the George M. Weah administration.
Those indicted included Samuel D. Tweah, Jr., Cllr. Nyenati Tuan, Moses P. Cooper, Stanley S. Ford, and Jefferson Karmoh, for the alleged misappropriation of L$1,055,152,540 and US$500,000.
Court records show the indictment alleged the defendants had reasonable cause to be tried for economic sabotage (including fraud on internal revenue, misuse of public money, and illegal disbursement), theft of property, money laundering, criminal facilitation, and criminal conspiracy. The accused named in the bill of indictment included Tweah, Tuan, Ford, Cooper, and Karmoh.
According to the indictment, prosecutors alleged that while serving as Minister of Finance and Development Planning (MFDP), Tweah authorized the transfer of L$1,055,152,540 and US$500,000 to the FIA’s operational accounts, even though the National Joint Security was said not to have requested the funds. The allegation further claimed he conspired with then Acting Justice Minister Cllr. Nyenati Tuan, who also chaired the National Joint Security, and that the transferred amounts could not be properly accounted for.
It was also alleged that on September 22, 2023, an analysis of the FIA’s U.S. dollar operational account at the Central Bank of Liberia (CBL) (A/C #: 1502021605) showed a transfer of US$500,000 into the account on instructions attributed to Tweah.
The same-day records, the indictment said, indicated that the amount was withdrawn by Cooper, then the FIA’s acting financial controller.
Additionally, the indictment alleged that between September 8 and 21, 2023, the CBL transferred L$1,055,152,540 into the FIA’s Liberian-dollar operational account (A/C #: 1501008108), based on instructions from the MFDP. Records cited in the case further claimed that between September 11, 2023, and October 17, 2023, Cooper withdrew L$1,055,145,040, leaving a difference of L$7,500.
