Liberian Government Rubbishes Crane Currency’s Claims, Company Charged With ‘Economic Sabotage, Criminal Conspiracy And Criminal Facilitation’
In an ever-developing case, the Ministry For Justice in Liberia has rubbished a statement made by Crane Currency refuting that it had been charged in relation to the illicit printing of excessive bank dollars in one of the largest political scandals to hit the country.
In fact, Crane Currency had been “charged and indicted on March 4, 2019, for Economic Sabotage, Criminal Conspiracy and Criminal Facilitation, in the printing of excess Liberian Dollar Banknotes”.
“The claims by Crane Currency are totally without merit, not made in good faith, not supported by the records at the Central Bank of Libera (CBL) and Crane Currency’s own records, submitted to the Presidential Investigation Team (PIT) and Kroll Associates.
“The Ministry of Justice wishes to emphasise that after receiving Crane Currency reaction to their Reports, both Kroll and PIT have stated that they stand by the findings regarding the printing of excess Liberian dollar Banknotes by Crane Currency,” the Ministry’s statement seen by Lovin Malta reads.
Media houses in Liberia have said that the indictment over the case allegedly claims that between April 2016 to August 2018, Central Bank of Liberia officials conspired with Crane Currency to print and deliver excess Liberian Dollar banknotes that were then injected into the country’s economy.
It is alleged that Crane Currency illegally printed some €14.4 billion worth of Liberian dollars.
Liberia Ministry For Justice Statement Refuting Crane Currency Claims
Following Lovin Malta’s reporting on the issue, Crane Currency said that it “has not been charged with any crime in Liberia, and at all times Crane has operated in full compliance with the law and rejects completely any allegation of wrongdoing”.
“The allegation is false and without merit,” it continued. “Crane fulfilled its contractual obligations as set out in two delivery contracts and two subsequent documented agreements between the Central Bank of Liberia for Crane to deliver the finished banknotes, and every banknote delivered was properly invoiced and accounted for.”
However, the Ministry for Justice has since said that “airway and seaway bills, along with the packing lists, clearly established that Crane printed 18.6 billion Liberian dollar banknotes over and above the 15 billion Liberian dollar banknotes it was contracted to print”.
The case is scheduled for trial during the May Term at the Criminal Court “C”, Temple of Justice.
It is not clear whether Crane Currency was served with the indictment and the writ of arrest by prosecutors.
Source: Malta Today
Crane Currency, which started production in Malta in 2017, immediately courted controversy in the country when it was revealed that a company belonging to the Prime Minister’s Chief of Staff Keith Schembri would service and repair Crane’s machines.
Schembri was described by Muscat as being “the catalyst in making sure things got done” when announcing the deal.
The Prime Minister has insisted that he sees no conflict of interest, however Schembri himself has admitted that his company may be contacted to service the machines, “as had been the case with the other company in the currency industry that operates in Malta”.
Lovin Malta has reached out to Crane Currency for a reply to the latest developments and is awaiting their response.
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