MONROVIA, LIBERIA-The Supreme Court of Liberia on Thursday ordered the incarceration of former officials of the Forestry Development Authority (FDA), and the Ministry of Mines and Energy for defrauding the Liberian government.

The Court also ordered that the defendants spend one year each in prison and restitute the amount of ten thousand US dollars each for the crime of economic sabotage.

Former FDA Managing Director Moses Wongbay and others were found guilty in 2025 of economic sabotage and criminal conspiracy, among others.

Wongbay and others were indicted for illegally issuing permits to sixty-one private companies between April 2010 and December 2011.

The permits, according to the indictment, authorized logging operations on millions of hectares of land, thus depriving the government of over six million US dollars in revenues.

Those found guilty are former FDA Managing Director Moses Wongbay, FDA Technical Manager John Kator, and FDA Community Forestry Manager Janga Kamara.

Others are David Blayee and Maxwell Gwee from the Mines and Energy Ministry.