By Paul Nicholson
January 4 – The Liberian FA (LFA) and its president Musa Bility have hit back saying that the pre-Christmas visit to their country by a FIFA team of financial investigators was in fact a compliance audit and not a forensic audit tasked with investigating financial corruption in Liberian football.
The three-man FIFA team included Jonathan Brown, a partner at specialist business risk consultancy Control Risks, Brown is a forensic accountant and leads the firm’s forensic practice for Europe and Africa.
This was the second visit in three years by FIFA for compliance purposes, said the LFA in a statement.
However, the LFA did say that “during a closing meeting with the auditors, Mr. Bility discovered documents that have been inserted into the LFA financial records that are not part of any audit report and was not found on any bank statement.”
“Unknown documents were presented to FIFA by unknown persons to the auditors which the LFA is not aware off,” said Bility.
Bility says he has called in the Liberian National Police to carry out a criminal investigation, saying that the documents are false.
In its statement the LFA says that a sum of $600,000 is in question but the LFA says that this has nothing to do with Bility but is to do with the LFA committees and its treasurer.
It appears that an Memorandum of Understanding was signed with an unnamed third party and that involved the sum of $600,000, though that money cannot be traced in the LFA accounts.
When FIFA’s representatives met with Bility, Vice Presidents Musa Shannon and Sekou Konneh; Secretary-General Emmanuel Deah and technical director Henry Brown and treasurer Jallah D. Corvah, Corvah admitted to sending fake accounts documentation to FIFA. Bility said that he had not signed the documentation sent to FIFA but that his signature had been forged.
Corvah has reportedly admitted to sending $600,000 to Bility’s wife Denise for their Stone Haven guest house and more than $100,000 to his son Sidiki Bility. Both sums were from the LFA account. Bility says his signature was forged and he didn’t authorise any money.
Shannon and Deah told the FIFA auditors that they had no knowledge of financial transactions as they were handled exclusively by Corvah and Bility in the LFA.
Bility said that the FIFA audit was purely a compliance audit and that his signature had been forged.
At press time FIFA had not responded to Insideworldfootball’s questions on whiter this was a compliance audit or a FIFA investigation.
Not surprisingly the LFA statement maintains the federation’s targeting of whistle-blower Rochell Woodson who it says “needs to face the Ethics Committee”. Woodson is charged with two counts of bringing the LFA into disrepute by highlighting alleged financial corruption in the LFA. The LFA ethics committee have based their case against Woodson on the unusual claims that she has not supplied them with any information. Woodson has responded publicly saying that they had not asked for any information.
Similarly remarkably the LFA says that she should face the Ethics committee for criticism she made of the LFA in a Fabric FM radio interview on December 28.
Woodson has indicated she would run for the presidency of the LFA in elections this February though at this point cannot run because of her suspension. It appears the LFA will do everything in its power to stop her running, particularly as according to Insideworldfootball’s sources at clubs in Liberia she would have a strong chance of beating Bility.
Former FIFA Ballon’Or winner George Weah was recently elected as Liberia’s national president on a platform of transparency and promises of reform. It will be interesting to see if the man from football (and whose son plays in the US national youth structure) has any appetite to step in to encourage transparency in his own national FA where he was once technical director having previously captained his country.
There are clearly more pressing social and political issues for Weah, but a simple and influential step in the right direction in football would perhaps be an indication of the kind of future Liberia might have as a nation.
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