Treasury Sanctions Senior Liberian Government Officials for Public Corruption
U.S. Department of Treasury
PRESS RELEASE
WASHINGTON — Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated Liberian government officials Nathaniel McGill, Sayma Syrenius Cephus, and Bill Twehway for their involvement in ongoing public corruption in Liberia. These officials are designated pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 13818, which builds upon and implements the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act and targets perpetrators of serious human rights abuse and corruption around the world.
“Through their corruption these officials have undermined democracy in Liberia for their own personal benefit,” said Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian E. Nelson. “Treasury’s designations today demonstrate that the United States remains committed to holding corrupt actors accountable and to the continued support of the Liberian people.”
Corruption has long undermined Liberia’s democracy and its economy, robbing the Liberian people of funds for public services, empowering illicit actors, degrading the business environment, and damaging the rule of law and effective governance in the country. Corruption also contributes to diminished confidence in government and public perception of impunity for those with power. These designations reaffirm the commitment of the United States to hold corrupt actors accountable. The United States is a proud and dedicated partner and friend of Liberia and stands with the people of Liberia in support of democracy and the rule of law and will continue to promote accountability for corrupt actors, regardless of their position or political affiliation. The United States is also committed to working with the people and Government of Liberia to elevate countering corruption as a priority, including by bolstering public sector anti-corruption capacity, and reviewing and re-evaluating criteria for bilateral and multilateral assistance, including around transparency and accountability. Holding corrupt actors accountable and bolstering anti-corruption efforts are both consistent with, and reflects our commitment to implementing, the United States Strategy on Countering Corruption.
CORRUPT LIBERIAN OFFICIALS
Nathaniel McGill (McGill) is Minister of State for Presidential Affairs and Chief of Staff to President George Weah. During his tenure in government, McGill has bribed business owners, received bribes from potential investors, and accepted kickbacks for steering contracts to companies in which he has an interest. McGill has manipulated public procurement processes in order to award multi-million dollar contracts to companies in which he has ownership, including by abusing emergency procurement processes to rig contract bids. McGill is credibly accused of involvement in a wide range of other corrupt schemes including soliciting bribes from government office seekers and misappropriating government assets for his personal gain. He has used government funds allocated to other Liberian government institutions to run his own projects, made off-the-books payments in cash to senior government leaders, and organized warlords to threaten political rivals. McGill has received an unjustified stipend from various Liberian government institutions and used his position to prevent his misappropriation from being discovered. McGill regularly distributes thousands of dollars in undocumented cash to other government officials for government and non-government activities.
McGill is being designated for being a foreign person who is a current government official who is responsible for or complicit in, or who has directly or indirectly engaged in, corruption, including the misappropriation of state assets, the expropriation of private assets for personal gain, corruption related to government contracts or the extraction of natural resources, or bribery.
Sayma Syrenius Cephus (Cephus) is the current Solicitor General and Chief Prosecutor of Liberia. Cephus has developed close relationships with suspects of criminal investigations and has 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.
Cephus is being designated for being a foreign person who is a current government official who is responsible for or complicit in, or who has directly or indirectly engaged in, corruption, including the misappropriation of state assets, the expropriation of private assets for personal gain, corruption related to government contracts or the extraction of natural resources, or bribery.
Bill Twehway (Twehway) is the current Managing Director of the National Port Authority (NPA). Twehway orchestrated the diversion of $1.5 million in vessel storage fee funds from the NPA into a private account. Twehway secretly formed a private company to which, through his position at the NPA, he later unilaterally awarded a contract for loading and unloading cargo at the Port of Buchanan. The contract was awarded to the company less than a month after its founding. Twehway and others used family members to obfuscate their own involvement in the company while still benefiting financially from the company.
Twehway is being designated for being a foreign person who is a current government official who is responsible for or complicit in, or has directly or indirectly engaged in, corruption, including the misappropriation of state assets, the expropriation of private assets for personal gain, corruption related to government contracts or the extraction of natural resources, or bribery.
SANCTIONS IMPLICATIONS
As a result of today’s action, all property and interests in property of these targets that are in the United States or in the possession or control of U.S. persons must be blocked and reported to OFAC. In addition, any entities that are owned, directly or indirectly, 50 percent or more by one or more blocked persons are also blocked. OFAC’s regulations generally prohibit all dealings by U.S. persons or within the United States (including transactions transiting the United States) that involve any property or interests in property of blocked or designated persons.
In addition, persons that engage in certain transactions with the individuals and entities designated today may themselves be exposed to sanctions or subject to an enforcement action. Furthermore, unless an exception applies, any foreign financial institution that knowingly facilitates a significant transaction for any of the individuals or entities designated today could be subject to U.S. sanctions.
The power and integrity of OFAC sanctions derive not only from OFAC’s ability to designate and add persons to the SDN List, but also from its willingness to remove persons from the SDN List consistent with the law. The ultimate goal of sanctions is not to punish, but to bring about a positive change in behavior. For information concerning the process for seeking removal from an OFAC list, including the SDN List, please refer to OFAC’s Frequently Asked Question 897 here. For detailed information on the process to submit a request for removal from an OFAC sanctions list, please click here.
GLOBAL MAGNITSKY
Building upon the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act, E.O. 13818 was issued on December 20, 2017, in recognition that the prevalence of human rights abuse and corruption that have their source, in whole or in substantial part, outside the United States, had reached such scope and gravity as to threaten the stability of international political and economic systems. Human rights abuse and corruption undermine the values that form an essential foundation of stable, secure, and functioning societies; have devastating impacts on individuals; weaken democratic institutions; degrade the rule of law; perpetuate violent conflicts; facilitate the activities of dangerous persons; and undermine economic markets. The United States seeks to impose tangible and significant consequences on those who commit serious human rights abuse or engage in corruption, as well as to protect the financial system of the United States from abuse by these same persons.Identifying information on the individuals designated today.
See below for an in depth look at key indicators for Liberia.
Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP) Ambassador
Overall Score
1.970
Country Ranking
75 / 163
Global Average
1.973 / 5
A composite index measuring the peacefulness of countries made up of 23 quantitative and qualitative indicators each weighted on a scale of 1-5. The lower the score the more peaceful the country.
- Perceived criminality in society
3.947 / 5
Qualitative assessment of the level of perceived criminality in society. Ranked 1-5 (very low-very high) by EIU analysts. Source: Economist Intelligence Unit.
- Security officers & police
3.5 / 5
Refers to the civil police force as distinct from national guards or local militia. Source: UN Survey of Crime Trends and Operations of Criminal Justice Systems.
- Homicides
2.313 / 5
Intentional homicide refers to death deliberately inflicted on a person by another person, including infanticide. Source: UN Survey of Crime Trends and Operations of Criminal Justice Systems.
- Jailed population
1.403 / 5
Prison population rates per 100,000 of the national population. Source: International Centre for Prison Studies, King's College London, World Prison Population List.
- Access to weapons
4 / 5
Qualitative assessment of the accessibility of small arms and light weapons (SALW). Ranked 1-5 (very low-very high) by EIU analysts. Source: Economist Intelligence Unit.
- Organised conflict (internal)
2 / 5
Qualitative assessment of the intensity of conflict/s within the country. Ranked 1-5 (very low-very high) by EIU analysts. Source: Economist Intelligence Unit.
- Violent demonstrations
2.25 / 5
Qualitative assessment of the likelihood of violent demonstration within the country. Ranked 1-5 (very low-very high) by EIU analysts. Source: Economist Intelligence Unit.
- Violent crime
3 / 5
Qualitative assessment of the level of violent crime within the country. Ranked 1-5 (very low-very high) by EIU analysts. Source: Economist Intelligence Unit.
- Political instability
3 / 5
Qualitative assessment of the political instability within the country. It addresses the degree to which political institutions are sufficiently stable to support the needs of its citizens, businesses and overseas investors. Ranked 1-5 (very low-very high) by EIU analysts. Source: Economist Intelligence Unit.
- Political terror
3 / 5
Countries are coded on a 1 to 5 scale (very low-very high) according to the level of terror described in the previous year in Amnesty International and US Department Country Reports. Source: Gibney, M., Cornett, L., & Wood, R., Political Terror Scale.
- Weapons imports
1 / 5
The transfer equipment or technology is from one country, rebel force or international organisation, to another country, rebel force or international organisation. Major conventional weapons include: aircraft, armoured vehicles, artillery, radar systems, missiles, ships, engines. Source: SIPRI Arms Transfers Project Database.
- Terrorist activity
1 / 5
Calculation based on a weighted average of the last five years of the number of fatalities, injuries, and property damage caused by terrorism. Source: Global Terrorism Database and Institute for Economics and Peace.
- Deaths from conflict (internal)
1.13 / 5
Number of battle deaths from internal conflict, which is defined as a contested incompatibility that concerns government and/or territory where the use of armed force between two parties, of which at least one is the government of a state, results in at least 25 battle-related deaths in a year. Source: International Institute for Strategic Studies, Armed Conflict Database.
- Military expenditure
1.277 / 5
Cash outlays of central or federal government to meet the costs of national armed forces - including strategic, land, naval, air, command, administration and support forces as well as paramilitary forces, customs forces and border guards if these are trained and equipped as a military force. Source: International Institute for Strategic Studies, The Military Balance.
+ Armed services personnel
1.063 / 5
- UN peacekeeping funding
2.992 / 5
Calculation of percentage of countries' outstanding contributions versus annual assessment to the budget of the current peacekeeping missions over an average of 3 years. This ratio is derived from the United Nations Committee on Contributions Status reports. Source: Institute for Economics and Peace.
- Nuclear and heavy weapons
1 / 5
Heavy weapons numbers calculated using a combination of The Military Balance (International Institute for Strategic Studies) and United Nations Register of Conventional Arms. (Starting in 2010, data is weighted by destructive capability). Source: Institute for Economics and Peace.
+ Weapons exports
1 / 5
- Displaced people
1.034 / 5
Refugees by territory of origin (starting in 2010 this indictor also includes the number of internally displaced people by country) as a percentage of the country's total population. Source: UNHCR Statistical Yearbook and Internal Displacement Monitoring Center.
- Neighbouring country relations
2 / 5
Qualitative assessment of relations with neighbouring countries. Ranked 1-5 (very low-very high) by EIU analysts. Source: Economist Intelligence Unit.
- Deaths from conflict (external)
1 / 5
Number of battle deaths from external conflict, which is defined as a contested incompatibility that concerns government and/or territory where the use of armed force between two parties, of which at least one is the government of a state, results in at least 25 battle-related deaths in a year. Source: Uppsala Conflict Data Program.
- External conflicts fought
1.367 / 5
Number, duration and role in conflicts fought in another country. Source: UCDP Battle Related Deaths Dataset
- Internal conflicts fought
1 / 5
Number and duration of conflicts fought within a country. This includes civil, interstate, one-sided and non-state conflicts. Sources: UCDP Battle Related Deaths Dataset, Non-State Conflict Dataset, One Sided Violence Dataset
Domestic & International Conflict
1.462 / 5
Safety & Security
2.491 / 5
Militarisation
1.804 / 5
Overall Score
3.720
Country Ranking
129 / 163
PPI Overall Score
3.718 / 5
Positive Peace is defined as the attitudes, institutions and structures that create and sustain peaceful societies. The Positive Peace Index measures the level of societal resilience of a nation or region according.
- Acceptance of the Rights of Others
3.604 / 5
One of the eight Pillars of Positive Peace. Peaceful nations enforce formal laws that guarantee basic human rights and freedoms and the informal social and cultural norms that relate to behaviours of citizens.
- Equitable Distribution of Resources
3.631 / 5
One of the eight Pillars of Positive Peace. Peaceful countries tend to ensure equity in access to resources such as education, health and, to a lesser extent, equity in income distribution.
- Free Flow of Information
3.122 / 5
One of the eight Pillars of Positive Peace. Free and independent media disseminates information in a way that leads to greater knowledge and helps individuals, business and civil society make better decisions.
- Good Relations with Neighbours
3.965 / 5
One of the eight Pillars of Positive Peace. Assesses harmonious relations with other countries or between ethnic religious, cultural groups within a country are vital for peace.
- High Levels of Human Capital
3.301 / 5
One of the eight Pillars of Positive Peace. A skilled human capital base reflects the extent to which societies educate citizens and promote the development of knowledge, thereby improving economic productivity, care for the young, political participation and social capital.
- Low Levels of Corruption
3.971 / 5
One of the eight Pillars of Positive Peace. Low corruption can enhance confidence and trust in institutions as well as improve the efficiency of business and the competitiveness of the country.
- Sound Business Environment
4.293 / 5
One of the eight Pillars of Positive Peace. Assesses the strength of economic conditions as well as the formal institutions that support the operation of the private sector.
- Well-Functioning Government
3.705 / 5
One of the eight Pillars of Positive Peace. A well-functioning government delivers high-quality public and civil services, engenders trust and participation, demonstrates political stability and upholds the rule of law.
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