Bail bonds filed by former Speaker Fonati Koffa and other lawmakers have been described as insufficient by the prosecution, putting the accused men at the risk of rearrest.
By Lincoln G. Peters
Former Speaker, Cllr. Jonathan Fonati Koffa and three of his colleagues risk rearrest and imprisonment, following alleged fraud in the lawmakers’ bail bond, as raised by prosecution.
Over the weekend, Criminal Court “A” Judge Roosevelt Willie ordered the Monrovia City Court Magistrate L. Ben Barco to conduct a hearing on the prosecution’s objection to the defense’s $440,000 property bond.
Judge Willie, in his ruling, said that the law requires that bond justification be addressed at the magisterial level before proceeding to circuit court.
He clarified that his court, Criminal Court “A”, lacks the authority to handle the matter unless it comes through an appeal or legal transfer.
“This court cannot and will not hear a matter that is not properly before it,” Judge Willie said. He added that the case would be returned to the magistrate court only for a hearing on the bond issue.
Judge Willie directed the clerk to forward all bond-related documents to Magistrate Barco and ordered a report on the bond’s validity by June 25.
Koffa and co-defendants were arrested last month. They face charges including arson, criminal conspiracy, and facilitation following a police probe into the Capitol Building fire.
Consequently, on Monday, June 23, 2025, the Monrovia City Court ordered ex-Speaker Koffa and his colleagues to produce their bond sureties by 9:00 a.m. today, Tuesday, June 24, 2025, or risk being rearrested and prison.
The Stipendiary Magistrate of the Monrovia City Court, L. Ben Barco, issued the warning during a bond hearing on Monday, warning that failure to justify the bond or make it sufficient would lead to its cancellation and rearrest of the defendants.
However, during the arguments, prosecutors claimed the sureties listed in the defendants’ $440,000 bond are non-existent and accused the defense of trying to delay proceedings.
But the defense countered that the prosecution’s objections are now moot and urged the court to dismiss them, saying they do not challenge the court’s jurisdiction.
The hearing follows a mandate from the circuit court for the lower court to examine the bond before the preliminary trial.
Meanwhile, Liberia’s Solicitor General, Cllr. Augustine Faiyah, on Monday, June 23, 2025, in a brief interview with Journalists on the ground of the Temple of Justice following the conclusion of the hearing, raised serious concerns over the bail bond filed by former Speaker Koffa and several other lawmakers, calling it both inadequate and potentially fraudulent.
According to the Chief Prosecutor, the properties and sureties listed in the $440,000 bond cannot be located or verified.
He called on the court to demand proof of the bond’s legitimacy. Failing that, he is urging the court to order the lawmakers back to prison over their alleged involvement in the Capitol Building attack, until a valid and lawful bond is presented.
