MONROVIA, Montserrado – Charles J. L. Gibson, the chair of the Presidential Investigation Team Technical Committee set up to investigate the alleged missing billions of dollars in Liberian banknotes, says several names will soon be removed from the government’s travel restriction list.

Gibson, who is also the commissioner for investigation and enforcement at the Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission, said by Tuesday, October 9, “we will be sending a list of names we believe that are not essential to the investigation.”

On September 26, the Justice Ministry issued a writ through the Monrovia City Court restricting 35 individuals from traveling out of the country, as the government considered them “persons of interest” in the ongoing investigation.

Notably among the names were the Central Bank’s former executive governor, Milton Weeks, and Charles Sirleaf, the son of former president Ellen Johnson Sirleaf who serves as deputy governor for operations. The list included numerous other officials of the Central Bank.

In a press conference on October 2, Nathaniel R. Patray, the executive governor of the Central Bank of Liberia, had requested that the government remove the travel restriction on the Central Bank’s staff to avoid interrupting with the smooth operations of the Bank.

Patray told journalists that all employees of the Bank who were restricted from traveling were committed to cooperating fully with the investigation and would continue to make themselves available whenever they are called upon.

Gibson suggested that the investigative team was responsible for determining who should be included on the travel ban, and not the Central Bank.

In addition to the names of individuals who should be removed from the travel ban, Gibson said the investigative team would also be requesting that additional names be added.

Featured photo by Zeze Ballah