The Financial Intelligence Unit of Liberia (FIU) has dismissed two staffs for tipping off and illegally stealing classified information for personal gain, in violation of section 67.13 of the FIU Act of 2012 and section 6.7.6 of the Human Resources Hand Book of the FIU, the Code of Conduct and Statement of Confidentiality.
Cooper Leamah tipped off his boss for over 10 years, destroyed evidence and rendered the investigation meaningless. Cooper, who was a senior member of the FIU and signed on to the code of conduct of the FIU, did not disclose such conflict of interest, with the only aim of protecting his boss and stalling the investigation which violates blatantly the code of conduct to which he signed on.
His action of willful blindness has not only undermined the investigation since, but has rendered the entire investigation meaningless, as evidences were tempered with and in some instances not seen. Additionally, compliance officer at the concerned institution clearly stated that Cooper Leamah undermined the investigation by his inaction. When Leamah managed the STRs, it was observed that he intentionally deleted two STRs filed by a local bank in favor of personal gain, even after the local bank reached out to him to follow up and he responded to the bank that “you have filed and you have nothing with it”.
On other hand, Amos Goba was seen illegally taking sensitive information from the FIU for personal gain and, in some instances, conducting investigation on individuals for personal gains when such investigation was never sanctioned by the office of the Director or the Head of Legal and Analysis. It was observed that Goba was conducting these illegal investigations and reporting to people outside of the FIU, which was without the consent of the Director, only for personal gain and to soil the image and character of reputable individuals in society using his employment with the FIU.
After Goba was discovered, the Director put in control to prevent the illegal and unauthorized information by disabling USB port on every computer within the Unit, including computer assigned to Goba. With the control put in place by the Director to protect the integrity of the information at the FIU, Goba openly and angrily insulted the Director in the presence of staff for putting in control that prevents Goba and any other staff from stealing classified information for personal gain.
In keeping with the powers of the Director, Goba was informed that he will be transferred from the Analysis Department since he has been compromised, with huge potential of reputational risk to the FIU. Goba immediately went on a blackmail spree after hearing about his removal, putting personal gain over ethics, professionalism and the laws governing his employment at the FIU. In violation of section 67.13 and the code of conduct of the FIU, Goba willfully discussed an STR work, both internally and externally, with the intent of blackmailing the director from removing him from the unit for doing what is unlawful, thus bringing reputational risk to the institution.
Based on this blatant violation for personal gain, and reputational risk to the FIU, the FIU, in keeping with section 67.13 of the Financial Intelligence Unit Act of 2012, will send a referral to the Ministry of Justice since the violation hinges on second degree felony. The general public is advised not to do business in the name of the FIU with the two dismissed staffs.
