MONROVIA, LIBERIA – The Financial Intelligence Agency of Liberia (FIA) has imposed a fine of Twenty-Five Million Liberian dollars (L$25,000,000) against the Lonestar Cell MTN Mobile Money, Inc. (LCMMMI). The decision to fine the mobile network subsidiary company of the LoneStar Cell MTN GSM Inc was necessitated by its failure to comply with Liberia’s Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) compliance policies, procedures, control, and obligations, as provided for in Liberia’s AML/CFT Act of 2021.
In a press release issued on Monday, April 28, 2025, and signed by Mohammed A. Nasser, Officer-in-Charge of the Financial Intelligence Agency (FIA), the agency stated that risk-based inspections conducted between September 2 and 16, 2024, revealed that Lonestar Cell MTN Mobile Money, Inc. (LCMMMI) failed to establish an independent board separate from its parent company, Lonestar Cell MTN GSM, Inc. This deficiency in the LCMMMI’s AML/CFT compliance system is in violation of section 6, paragraph 5 of the Mobile Money Regulation No. CBL/RSD/003/2014. This violation was also cited in the Central Bank of Liberia’s (CBL) December 2-10, 2018, Joint Digital Financial Services and AML/CFT Risk-based Examination Report on the LCMMMI.
FIA finds this inadequacy of not implementing appropriate corporate governance measures in the LCMMMI’s AML/CFT compliance system as risky and troubling. The Agency is extremely baffled by the Mobile Money operator’s failure to address this major violation of not establishing its own Board separate from its parent company, Lonestar Cell MTN GSM Inc., since December 2018 when it was first identified by the CBL up to present.
Additionally, the FIA identified a few infractions, which include the following:
The Agency has mandated LCMMMI to deposit the L$25,000,000 in the Liberian Government escrow account.
Meanwhile, the FIA shall take additional appropriate supervisory actions, where necessary, to ensure LCMMMI Complies with the Full range of AML/CFT Obligations.
