Defendants wait outside the compound at the center of Liberia’s largest human trafficking trial during a court-ordered inspection. Credit: Anthony Stephens/New Narratives.
Summary:
Prosecutors rested after calling three subpoenaed government witnesses to challenge key claims made by the defense.
Witnesses testified that Infinity Millennium was registered with the government but had not paid taxes or declared income, and that QNet was not registered to import pharmaceutical products into Liberia.
Closing arguments are set for Monday, after which jurors will deliberate on the fate of the eight remaining defendants.
By Anthony Stephens, senior justice correspondent with New Narratives
All three prosecution subpoenaed witnesses told a Monrovia court Wednesday that the company the defendants in Liberia’s largest human trafficking trial say they belong to is registered with the Liberian government but has neither paid taxes nor declared any income.
The testimony sought to undercut the defense’s claim that Infinity Millennium Platinum Star Limitless Institution—which the defendants say is affiliated with Qnet, the Hong Kong-based multilevel e-commerce company—was operating as a legitimate business. The defendants told Criminal Court A that the organization was legally registered to market health products, including Bio Disc, Kenta and Olé, and complied with Liberia’s tax laws.
To challenge those assertions, prosecutors called subpoenaed officials from the Liberia Revenue Authority, the Liberia Business Registry and the Liberia Medicines and Health Products Regulatory Authority. They later withdrew an earlier request for a representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to testify.
Wilma Senkpeni, a senior tax compliance supervisor at the Liberia Revenue Authority, testified that while Infinity Millennium was registered with the authority on September 27, 2022, QNet itself was not. She said the authority had no record that Infinity Millennium had ever paid taxes or declared income.
“Since their registration, there have been no taxes paid to the Liberia Revenue Authority,” Senkpeni said. “They have not declared any income.”
Involving 57 alleged victims — 35 men and 22 women — the case is the largest human trafficking prosecution in Liberia’s history.
The alleged victims told FrontPage Africa/New Narratives, police investigators and the court that they were held at a compound in Gbankpa Town for periods ranging from six to 18 months. They said they were beaten, tortured, raped and subjected to other forms of sexual violence, denied food and confined in degrading conditions.
The compound, located just steps from the residence of Vice President Jeremiah Koung along the highway to Roberts International Airport, has become the focal point of the trial, which has drawn national and international attention. The victims, whose identities FrontPage Africa/New Narratives is withholding for their safety, said they were held there for months — in some cases for more than a year — while being stripped of thousands of U.S. dollars and forced to recruit relatives and friends by falsely claiming they had arrived safely in Canada and were living prosperous lives.
Although 57 alleged victims gave statements to police and prosecutors, Shelley Jonny, a former defendant whose charges were dropped after she pleaded guilty and agreed to testify for the prosecution, told the court that as many as 150 people were being held at the compound at one point.
On Saturday, the court court conducted an inspection of the property, accompanied by 15 jurors — 12 regular jurors and three alternates — four alleged victims, the eight defendants, court staff, sheriffs, one representative each from the prosecution and defense teams, and this reporter. The jurors traveled to the compound under police escort.
Jurors, defendants, alleged victims and representatives of both legal teams visit the alleged crime scene as members of Vice President Jeremiah Koung’s security detail stand outside his nearby residence.
As the trial entered its final stages, prosecutors continued to press the case they have advanced throughout the nearly month-long proceedings: that the defendants committed the crimes of human trafficking, theft of property and criminal conspiracy, despite their pleas of not guilty.
James F. Farmah, an employee of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs assigned to the Liberia Business Registry, was the prosecution’s second witness of the day. Like Senkpeni, Farmah testified that Infinity Millennium was registered with the registry on September 27, 2022.
He said the company was registered “to engage in e-commerce, online sales, goods and services marketing by advertising and all its related service activities and products.”
Farmah identified the company’s incorporators as Joseph Vulu, Pape Gbagnagbe, Andrew Suah, Munah O. James and Aaron P. Miaway, adding that all listed Montserrado County, Liberia, as their address.
Farmah testified that after the company filed its incorporation documents and paid the required registration fees, it appeared to have become dormant.
Asked by Randolph D.M.O. Johnson, one of the prosecutors, whether the company appeared in the registry’s 2026 records, Farmah replied:
“No. They are not.”
In addition to asserting that their company was legitimate, the defendants also testified that the products they sold to victims and other customers had been approved by the Ministry of Health.
Teedoh Beyslow, deputy director of the Liberia Medicines and Health Products Regulatory Authority, an agency under the Ministry of Health, disputed the defendants’ claim.
“QNet is not a registered importer of pharmaceuticals in Liberia, as far as we are concerned,” said Beyslow, who is also a medical doctor. “Our records show that we don’t have any information on QNet when it comes to pharmaceutical products. QNet has not applied for the importation of pharmaceuticals.”
Before the three witnesses testified, however, the defense, led by Sennay Carlor, objected to Senkpeni’s testimony. Carlor argued that the sheriff’s return identifying those served with the court’s subpoenas did not indicate that the Liberia Revenue Authority had been properly served.
Randolph D.M.O. Johnson, one of the prosecutors, dismissed the objection as “spineless,” arguing that it was unsupported by law and intended only to delay the proceedings.
During the arguments, Judge Roosevelt Willie instructed the sheriffs to review their return. Afterward, he said they had made an “error.” While acknowledging the defense’s right to object, Judge Willie ordered the sheriff to reread the return that had earlier been inspected in open court by the jurors, the prosecution and the defense.
“In the interest of justice and fair play, the prosecution cannot suffer because of the bailiff’s error,” Judge Willie said. “The court therefore orders the sheriff to read the returns that are available to the court, since those ministries and agencies are indeed present.”
The exchanges lasted more than 30 minutes.
After the state rested its case, Judge Willie ruled that both sides would present their closing arguments to the jury on Monday, after which the jurors would retire to deliberate and decide the fate of the eight remaining defendants.
The court will also determine the fate of the three defendants who pleaded guilty earlier in the trial. Unlike Jonny, whose charges were dropped after she pleaded guilty and testified for the prosecution, Maxson Wonlebaye, Martherline Tompia and Preston Godfred will still face judgment. Prosecutors refused to dismiss the charges against them, arguing that victims had identified the trio as among the principal perpetrators of the alleged crimes. Instead, prosecutors left any mitigation of their sentences to Judge Willie’s discretion.
Each defendant faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 20 years’ imprisonment if convicted. Should the jury return guilty verdicts, Judge Willie will schedule a separate sentencing hearing no sooner than five days after the verdict. If the jury returns not guilty verdicts, he will order the defendants released and discharge the jury.
Meanwhile, as the trial neared its conclusion, both the prosecution and the defense expressed confidence they would prevail.
“We believe we have established a prima facie case,” said Augustine C. Fayiah, Liberia’s solicitor general, who has led the prosecution. “The evidence is overwhelming. The evidence is very cogent and to the point. But it’s not us that will determine the case. It’s the jurors who will determine whether the evidence we’ve produced satisfies them. To the best of our knowledge, it has met the benchmark under the Trafficking in Persons Act.”
Carlor, who rested the defense’s case last week after presenting its witnesses and evidence, said he remained equally confident that his clients would be acquitted.
“A hundred percent,” he said. “Those that pleaded guilty, it’s left with them. Those still saying, ‘No, we didn’t do it,’ that’s good. We still have a beautiful case. The testimony we have is good to acquit them.”
This story was a collaboration with New Narratives as part of the Investigating Liberia project. Funding was provided by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency. The funder had no say in the story’s content.
