Hours after Liberia’s Justice Minister, Cllr. Frank Musa Dean disclosed that the suspended and sanctioned Solicitor General, Cllr. Syrenius Cephus doctored his signature in a purported letter to US Ambassador Michael McCarthy, the US Embassy has distanced itself from the communication.
Responding to a FrontPageAfrica inquiry Tuesday, August 23, 2022, the Embassy Public Affairs Officer, Sean Boda pointed out that the embassy has no record of such a communication, stating, “We have no record at the embassy of ever having received such a letter.”
However, the Embassy’s denial follows a strong denial from Minister Dean who questioned the timing and motive of the SG’s purported letter.
The January 15, 2022 communication surfaced in the media and social media over the last 24 hours and was purportedly written by Minister Dean to Ambassador McCarthy informing him that the Solicitor General has been overlapping his functions.
The letter described Cllr. Cephus’ behavior as one which has the propensity to “impede the peace process of our country and the justice system. It is dangerous to have such a bad apple in public service.”
In a response early Tuesday, August 23, 2022, Minister Dean described the letter as “Complete forgery and the making of Cephus”, and thereby wondered, “So, if he had this letter, dated January 15, 2022, what was he waiting for to bring it to the fore?”
When asked whether the signature was also forged, Cllr. Dean said, “I don’t know. Probably, the signature was traced or lifted. This is not my diction”.
He went on to say the email address (deanmusa95@gmail.com) that appears on the letter are also not his, giving My email addresses are: musdean@yahoo.com and frankmdeanjr@gmail.com as his working and only email address.
Cllr. Dean says the letter was doctored to make it appear that it was based on his complaint that he, Cllr. Cephus was added to the list of sanctioned officials.
Notably, Cllr. Cephus was among three key officials of the Weah-led government that were sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department on August 15.
The Treasury Department noted that the controversial Solicitor General developed close relationships with suspects of criminal investigations and received bribes from individuals in exchange for having their cases dropped.
“Cephus has worked behind the scenes to establish arrangements with subjects of money laundering investigations to cease investigations in order to personally benefit financially. He shields money launderers and helps clear them through the court system and has intimidated other prosecutors in an attempt to quash investigations. Cephus has also utilized his position to hinder investigations and block the prosecution of corruption cases involving members of the government. Cephus has been accused of tampering with and purposefully withholding evidence in cases involving members of opposition political parties to ensure conviction.”
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