MONROVIA, LIBERIA-Prosecution’s first witness in the ongoing economic sabotage case has told the Court that the former National Security Advisor, Jefferson Karmoh, unilaterally wrote the Financial Intelligence Agency (FIA) admitting the institution to the Joint Security, without authorization.

Witness Baba Mohammed Boika, the Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission (LACC) Investigator, told the Court that there has to be an authorization from the Minister of Justice, and not the National Security Advisor to the President.

Boika stressed that there is nowhere in the National Security Act that gives defendant Karmoh such a right to admit an institution into the Joint Security.

According to witness Boika, defendant Karmoh has since failed to give evidence that his action was authorized by the Minister of Justice, who chairs the National Joint Security.

The witness emphasized that the decision to admit the FIA was for the sole purpose of using its account to channel the stolen funds in question.

The defendants, former National Security Advisor to the President, Jefferson Karmoh; former Finance and Development Planning Minister, Samuel Tweah; the Director General of the FIA, Stanley Ford; former Comptroller of the FIA, Moses Cooper; and former Acting Justice Minister, Nyenati Tuan, are on trial for allegedly stealing millions of U.S dollars and a billion Liberian dollars.

They are charged for multiple offenses, including money laundering, economic sabotage, theft, misuse of public money, and illegal distribution and expenditure of public money, among others.

In another development, the Civil Law Court at the Temple of Justice has lifted a garnishment order placed on the accounts of the former Managing Director of ACTIVA International Insurance Liberia, Saye Gbalazeh, citing procedural error.

In a communication to several banking institutions, Judge Peter Gbeneweleh indicated that the garnishment order, initially issued on April 1, 2026, was done inadvertently and should therefore be vacated.

The order had authorized the attachment of assets amounting to $ 134,000.00, linked to an ongoing civil dispute between ACTIVA and Prof. Gbalazeh.

The company is seeking to fully nullify an alleged sub-lease agreement and recover funds it claims were improperly obtained.

Reacting to the ruling, Prof. Gbalazeh argued that the garnishment formed part of a broader pattern of legal pressure aimed at undermining his reputation.

He maintained that previous efforts to pursue criminal allegations against him did not yield results, noting that law enforcement authorities found no basis to proceed.

Gbalazeh further characterized the garnishment as an attempt to restrict his financial access ahead of planned travel, describing the move as an abuse of the justice process.