New developments have unfolded in the Capitol Arson case as the Liberia Revenue Authority (LRA) has revealed fraudulent tax documents linked to bond applications made by six suspects, including defendant Thomas Etheridge. This discovery raises questions about the potential release of these suspects from custody.
LRA, in a testimony, said it uncovered fraudulent tax documents submitted for the purpose of securing bonds for the. The investigation of the bond documents and subsequent revelations have cast serious doubt on the authenticity of a property tax bill valued at US$2.8 million.
During the 7th day of the August Term court proceedings on Tuesday, August 19, LRA Assistant Commissioner for Real Estate Tax James Afif Jabar appeared in response to a subpoena to authenticate tax documents linked to Property ID 25115.
After careful examination, Mr. Jabar noted that the Real Property Tax Bill and associated Statement of Property Valuation were forged and not generated by the official LRA system, “and are hereby fraudulent, misleading and misrepresentation to the Court.”
The findings revealed discrepancies in the claimed property value, tax calculations, and payment records, rendering the documents invalid and misleading.
Though Judge Roosevelt Willie of Criminal Court ‘A’ recently approved a joint property valuation bond of US$500,000, backed by sureties Randolph S. Cole and Rufina J. Cole, the LRA is claiming that the bond is faked. The property is situated in Virginia, Tire Shop Community, adjacent to one James Momo residence.
If this is true, it would further delay the potential release of the defendants from jail. Their release depends on the approval of Judge Roosevelt Willie of Criminal Court A.
Willie had scheduled the decision for Thursday, August 22, after the defense resisted the testimony of the state’s witness.
Testifying as the prosecution’s expert witness, Jabar said the real property tax bill for US$2,800,000 bearing property ID 25115, that statement of property valuation was never issued by the LRA.
According to the state witness, as far as the LRA is concerned there is no statement valuation for such property bearing ID 33933. In addition, the receipts that were provided for LRA to review show that they are fraudulent. No payment was made to the LRA for the two different receipts that were provided.
Just for the record, Jabar testified that the proven facts relate to the Central Bank Regulation that US$10,500.00 cannot be paid in cash and that US$4,500.00 cannot be paid in cash, but rather via manager’s check because it is above the benchmark of US$250.00.
Further to his testimony, the state witness said, the tax bill with the property ID, which PID 25115 valued US$2,800,000, with bill number 030398417 does not exist in the LRA Tax System and therefore, it is not valid.
“The tax bill attached shows a decommission bill from December 2023, which is inconsistent with that of the current tax bill being used by the LRA,” he added.
He said, the tax bill bearing property ID 25115 valued at US$2,800,000 with a residential tax rate of 0.25 percent shows US$75,000, as tax amount instead of US$7,000.
“This is an indication of a wrongful tax amount, which is a substantial discrepancy in figure,” the witness testified.
“I hold in my hand a copy of the Tax Bill that was submitted for our review and you can see on this dashboard, property ID 25115, residential as a classification, value of this tax bill for the property worth US$2,800,000 with a residential tax rate of 0.25%, meaning, if you multiply the tax rate of 0.0025 by the value of 2,800,000.00, you should have the tax amount of US$7,000.00 and not US$75,000.00 [as] stated here,” the witness testified.
According to the witness, the document number on this tax bill 030398417 is not the document number for this particular document and, therefore, it is invalid. “This shows that property ID 25115 is fraudulent,” he added.
According to him, a claimed payment of US$4,500.00 (Four Thousand Five Hundred United States Dollars) on February 27, 2025, for the 2025 Tax Period is not in the LRA system.
“The receipt number bearing this US$4,500.00 (Four Thousand Five Hundred United States Dollars), which is 594871 is actually a US$20.00 (Twenty United States Dollars) payment made by Musa K. Sannoh for a National Passport, dated May 1, 2009. In addition to this payment receipt, Konton Richards was not part of the CBL at the time this Tax Receipt was being issued on February 27, 2025. Mr. Richards left the CBL in 2003,” he said.
Furthermore, US$4,500, in cash is not acceptable under the Central Bank regulation for payment, the witness said.
According to the witness, CBL regulation says that any payment for US$250.00 and above is payable by Manager’s Check, while payment less than US$250.00 is payable in cash.
“It is not like that of the decommission bill of 2023; therefore, the Tax Bill presented by Randolph and Rufina Cole for property ID 25115 is fraudulent and invalid,” the witness said.
The defendants were indicted alongside four lawmakers, including former Speaker Cllr. J. Fonati Koffa, Rep. Abu Kamara (Montserrado District #15), Rep. Dixon Wlawlee Seboe (Montserrado District #16), and Rep. Jacob C. Deebie (Grand Gedeh District #3). These lawmakers were earlier released on a similar US$440,000 property bond without the requirement of human sureties.
