The Civil Society Network of Liberia (CSNL) has welcomed the indictment against Stanton Witherspoon, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Spoon Media Group, and described him as a modern day “wolf in sheep’s clothing”.
Witherspoon and others have been indicted by the US Department of Health and Justice for wire fraud. The investigation, known as “operation Nitingale”, indicts Witherspoon and others of selling fake nursing degrees to 7,600 individuals within the US.
Speaking on the busted fraud allegation against Witherspoon, the Civil Society Network of Liberia stated, “The criminal indictment against Spoon TV’s CEO, Stanton Witherspoon, is a clear revelation that he lacks moral rectitude to speak against ills, especially corrupt acts in the society. We are disappointed that Mr. Witherspoon, who has been vocal against officials of the Liberian government for corruption and other financial crimes, would be linked to fraud. Mr. Witherspoon used his Spoon TV platform to invade the privacy and breached the confidentiality policy of banks to divulge information involving the management of LISGIS. Mr. Witherspoon took months to besmear and defame the characters of Mr. Wilmot Smith, former Acting Director General of LISGIS. The same way Mr. Witherspoon allegedly connived with others to sell fake nursing degrees in the US, he connived with the former Deputy Director General of LISGIS, Alex Williams, to manufacture information and lies against the former Acting Director. From all indications, it is now clear that Mr. Witherspoon, who lied that Mr. Smith and Minister Samuel Tweah created a secret account in the Ivory Coast to transfer census funds of US$2.2 million, was the one actually into wire fraud for US$114 million. Unlike his wide and unfounded claims against these public officials, Mr. Witherspoon is the one actually being charged by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). The alleged involvement of Mr. Witherspoon into this criminal syndicate raises serious doubts about the truthfulness of the information he spews out about officials of government and other prominent individuals on his Spoon TV. This has also brought the image of Spoon TV into question.”
The Civil Society Network of Liberia has called on Liberians to see Stanton Witherspoon as a “fake anti-corruption advocate who has lost all moral standings to speak on issues bothering around corruption and other societal ills”. The group added that Witherspoon’s true nature has been exposed by his indictment into a grand wire fraud. The CSO then urged Liberians to always investigate issues and not rely on double-faced characters, like Stanton Witherspoon, who are bent on spreading misinformation and disinformation about reputable characters.