The mother of the late Millad Hage’s first Liberian daughter, Edith Hage, has threatened to take legal action against Ecobank and Oumou Sirleaf for allegedly robbing her daughter, Nohah Hage-Mensah, of her share of the Milad Hage property.
Speaking to newsmen recently, Edith and her daughter claimed that Oumou Sirleaf misled the court under oath when she allegedly lied that Nohad Hage-Mensah was her minor child while the girl was neither her minor child nor her daughter.
Edith Hage said, by the time of the death of her former spouse, the late Milad Hage, in 2010, his daughter, Nohad Hage-Mensah, was already married with a kid.
Edith Hage said, “She was not a minor, and she’s not Oumou’s daughter. It was a complete lie. Oumou Sirleaf’s motive for lying under oath and misleading the court that Nohad Hage-Mensah was her minor daughter was because she wanted to take Nohad Hage-Mensah’s personal property that was bought by her father, the late Mr. Hage, and take Nohad Hage-Mensah’s share of the real estate.”
Making further claim, Edith Hage divulged that Oumou Sirleaf allegedly forged Nohah Hage-Mensah’s signature in a loan agreement with the Ecobank.
She said Oumou Sirleaf also forged Nohad Hage-Mensah’s signature on collateral given to Ecobank, making it to appear like Nohad Hage Mensah was among those who signed the loan and gave Ecobank the collateral.
Making her case further to members of the press, Edith Hage claimed that the court took the estate from Bassam Jahwary and turned it over to Oumou Sirleaf to be managed by her.
Edith said as a result of this new development, Oumou Sirleaf again is said to have forged Nohad Hage-Mensah’s signature into another loan agreement with Ecobank, making it to appear as though Nohad Hage-Mensah was part of the people who took the loan from Ecobank.
Edith Hage further alleged that Ecobank went into a deal with Oumou Sirleaf, and during this transaction Nohad Hage Mensah was in the United States, but Ecobank still went into a loan agreement with Oumou Sirleaf, making it to look like Nohad Hage-Mensah was part of the loan agreement.
Giving background to the legal anomaly, Edith Hage said four years ago Ecobank told the court that the Hage Estate was still indebted to the Ecobank.
Edith said, “The court, knowing that an audit was conducted and the audit revealed that the Hage Estate did not owe Ecobank, asked Ecobank to present all the loan agreements and collaterals they have between them and the Hage Estate.”
The Supreme Court, Edith Hage said, gave Ecobank one week to present the documents, but the bank told the Supreme Court that the loan agreement and collateral papers were not with them in Liberia; instead, they are keeping it in their vault in Nigeria.
She claimed that since that admission by the Ecobank, it has been four years and yet Ecobank has not been able to present the documents to the Supreme Court.
Sounding frustrated and distraught, Edith Hage said, “Oumou Sirleaf needs to ask her partner, Ecobank, to cooperate with the Supreme Court and bring those documents that were asked for by the Supreme Court so that the case can be brought to an end once and for all, instead of Oumou accusing the Chief Justice of not wanting to end the case.”
In a challenging tone, Nohad Hage-Mensah and Edith Hage called on Ecobank to present those documents that were asked of them by the Supreme Court.
“Ecobank…you claimed you got those papers in your vault in Nigeria…why four years you cannot bring these papers?” Edith asked rhetorically.
Looking at the case in hindsight, Edith Hage said an investigation was done by the then National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), and they found out that Ecobank and Oumou Sirleaf had been apparently rubbing the estate. She claimed that Ecobank collected more money from the estate.
Edith Hage claimed she has the records from the NBI investigation, the picture with the criminal sign that was allegedly placed on the chest of the Ecobank representative, and Oumou Sirleaf’s picture with a criminal sign printed on her chest as a criminal, and that she has presented these records to the Supreme Court for investigation.
In the press interaction, Edith Hage and Nohad Hage-Mensah called on Ecobank to cooperate with the Supreme Court and present all the loan documents and collaterals between them and Hage, so that the matter can be closed once and for all.
In providing other angles to the Hage Estate saga, Clarence Momolu is said to have sued Hage estate, with claims that the one lot of land that Hage built his stores on belongs to him. Oumou Sirleaf, through her lawyer, the late Cllr. Frederick Cheru, responded to the court by sending in the rightful deed that was bearing the names of Oumou’s two children and Nohad Hage.
According to Edith Hage, when it was time for the court to survey and separate the Milad Hage children personal properties, Judge Eva Mappy Morgan allegedly ordered all parties to bring their deeds, but Oumou Sirleaf is believed to have brought a completely different deed bearing only her children’s names, allegedly erasing Nohad Hage’s name off the deed.
Edith said the survey was done by the court, and showed that Oumou allegedly took Nohad Hage’s name off the deed.
Giving further explanation, Edith said the Civil Law Court decided to divide the land between Oumou Sirleaf’s two children and Nohad Hage, and the children should have signed one another’s deeds, but Oumou Sirleaf is said to have defied the court: her children would not sign the deed. Judge Gbeisay, who was then handling the matter in the Civil Law Court, decided to jail Oumou Sirleaf for defying the court.
At the time Oumou Sirleaf did not have children for Milad Hage, he bought four lots of land in Soul Clinic community and put two lots in Oumou’s name and two lots in Nohad Hage Mensah’s name. Oumou Sirleaf is believed to have taken Nohad Hage’s two lots and allegedly sold them to her friend, Brenice Blama.
Brenice Blama reportedly gave the land to her church, the Liberty Christian Fellowship Center. Nohad Hage went to court and won the case, and the Liberty Christian Fellowship Center has been begging Nohad Hage to buy the land from her.
Edith Hage also alleged that Oumou Sirleaf produced two forged marriage certificates, claiming that one was from the Ministry of Internal Affairs. However, the Internal Affairs Ministry did a search in its archive and found no record of the marriage certificate. Oumou Sirleaf is also said to have told the NBI investigation that her friend, Cooper Yalabah, took another marriage certificate to Lebanon for her to sign it and send it back to Liberia.
She questioned, “When has it been allowed for Liberian marriage certificates to be taken out of the country for signature and brought back to Liberia?”
Giving an account of the Nohad Hage personal property and Oumou Sirleaf and her three children’s personal property, she said the estate used to bring in millions of dollars every year, but they were separated by the court from the estate, and now the estate brings in around US$600,000 annually.
According to the Will, Nohad Hage supposed to receive US$50,000 every year, Oumou and her three children US$200,000, and the four Lebanese adult children US$70,000. She noted that Oumou makes sure that she and her three children receive their money every year.
Edith said Oumou and the Curator, Steve Clark, controlled the estate the way she wants it, but Nohad Hage does not get hers on time. “At times it takes three to four years before my daughter gets her share of the money,” she claimed.
Edith complained that Oumou Sirleaf went on the radio and misled the Liberian people into believing that Nohad was receiving too much money from the estate, noting that “Oumou is a criminal who should be brought to justice.
“It takes years for Nohad Hage-Mensah to receive her money. For example, it’s been four years now, she has just received her money from the estate. That is injustice,” Edith Hage alarmed.
When contacted, a representative in the legal department of the Ecobank who refused to give her identity said the case was before the court and, as such, the Ecobank could not comment on the matter.