{"id":3422,"date":"2023-03-30T15:48:53","date_gmt":"2023-03-30T15:48:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stage.thedaylight.org\/wp68\/?p=3422"},"modified":"2023-03-30T16:54:33","modified_gmt":"2023-03-30T16:54:33","slug":"logging-company-paid-us1000-fine-for-forgery-in-2019-document-reveals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stage.thedaylight.org\/wp68\/2023\/03\/30\/logging-company-paid-us1000-fine-for-forgery-in-2019-document-reveals\/","title":{"rendered":"Logging Company Paid US$1,000 Fine For Forgery in 2019, Document Reveals"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Top: A drone shot of Kpelle Village, one of the communities affected by Akewa\u2019s operations in the Gola Konneh Community Forest. The DayLight\/James Harding Giahyue<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

By Emmanuel Sherman<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

MONROVIA \u2013 In 2019, Akewa Group of companies, a Nigerian firm operating in Margibi and Grand Bassa County at the time, forged another company\u2019s document to acquire a new logging contract. The Liberia Revenue Authority investigated and found Akewa guilty of forgery. However, it remained unclear what punishment it took against the company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, it has emerged Akewa paid a US$1,000 fine for falsifying a tax clearance of Tiger Quarry<\/a>, a mining firm, according to the receipt of the payment. The DayLight had requested the document in a follow-up to an investigation report<\/a> it published last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe LRA professional ethics division (PED) conducted a full-scale investigation into the matter. The PED\u2026 recommended that Akewa Group of Companies pays the legitimate fine of US$1,000 in consonance with the Liberia Revenue Law,\u201d said Kaihenneh Sengbeh, LRA\u2019s head of communications.  Akewa made the payment on April 16, roughly one month after the scandal. The receipt categorizes the payment under \u201cfraudulent clearance\u201d penalty. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Akewa had presented the fake document to acquire the Gola Konneh Community Forest, a 49,179-hectare of forestland in the Gola Konneh District of Grand Cape Mount County. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Akewa Group of Companies paid a US$1,000 fine for forging a tax clearance belonging to another company.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Forestry Development Authority (FDA) approved Akewa\u2019s bid, breaking Liberian laws, including the Regulation on Bidder Qualifications<\/a>. It bars a company or its affiliate who has been convicted or penalized in the last five years over forgery, bribery and other morality-related offenses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

FDA Managing Director Mike Doryen wrongly justified the agency\u2019s decision in an interview with The DayLight mid-last year. \u201cWe prevented Akewa from doing further business until they could provide [their] tax clearance. They rectified it and they paid a fine and that\u2019s how we resumed business with them,\u201d Doryen said at the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Liberian laws require harsh punishments for forgery. Under the National Forestry Reform Law<\/a>, a person faces a 12-month prison term for the offense or a US$10,000 fine, or both. That person faces up to five years in prison under the Penal Code for lying under oath.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Akewa is one of the forestry\u2019s most delinquent companies. In 2012, Akewa participated in the Private Use Permit (PUP) Scandal. The FDA awarded an estimated 2.5 million hectares of forestlands to fraudulent logging companies in forestry’s biggest postwar scandal. It had received a contract meant for only Liberians three years earlier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Akewa is currently in a settlement with Beyan Poye Community Forest<\/a> of Margibi County for the cancellation of its contract with locals. Three Nigerians co-owned the company: Abigail Funke Odebunmi (60 percent) Kenneth Amazeika (20 percent) and Timothy Odebunmi (20 percent).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This story was a production of the Community of Forest and Environmental Journalists (CoFEJ).<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Top: A drone shot of Kpelle Village, one of the communities affected by Akewa\u2019s operations in the Gola Konneh Community Forest. The DayLight\/James Harding Giahyue By Emmanuel Sherman MONROVIA \u2013 In 2019, Akewa Group of companies, a Nigerian firm operating in Margibi and Grand Bassa County at the time, forged another company\u2019s document to acquire […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":3426,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"give_campaign_id":0,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[54,3],"tags":[1723,123,107,1722,1486],"class_list":["post-3422","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-logging","category-rainforest","tag-akewa-group-of-companies","tag-forestry-development-authority","tag-liberia","tag-liberia-revenue-authority","tag-mike-doryen"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\n","aioseo_head_json":{"title":"Logging Company Paid US$1,000 Fine For Forgery in 2019, Document Reveals - The DayLight","description":"Top: A drone shot of Kpelle Village, one of the communities affected by Akewa\u2019s operations in the Gola Konneh Community Forest. The DayLight\/James Harding Giahyue By Emmanuel Sherman MONROVIA \u2013 In 2019, Akewa Group of companies, a Nigerian firm operating in Margibi and Grand Bassa County at the time, forged another company\u2019s document to acquire","canonical_url":"https:\/\/stage.thedaylight.org\/wp68\/2023\/03\/30\/logging-company-paid-us1000-fine-for-forgery-in-2019-document-reveals\/","robots":"noindex, nofollow, max-image-preview:large","keywords":"","webmasterTools":{"msvalidate.01":"CA6BD2F84653EA44942A55ABC0B35372","miscellaneous":""},"schema":null,"og:locale":"en_US","og:site_name":"The DayLight - The DayLight is a nonprofit, environmental news website. Our evidence-based, independent and quality news contents tell you all the happenings across nature\u2019s frontiers and the extractive sector in Liberia. From forestry and fisheries to wildlife conservation and climate change, from renewable energy and land rights to oil\/gas and oil palm, we bring you news on everything about the environment you need to know. The DayLight is published by The DayLight Incorporated in Vahnwin Community, Congo Town.","og:type":"article","og:title":"Logging Company Paid US$1,000 Fine For Forgery in 2019, Document Reveals - The DayLight","og:description":"Top: A drone shot of Kpelle Village, one of the communities affected by Akewa\u2019s operations in the Gola Konneh Community Forest. The DayLight\/James Harding Giahyue By Emmanuel Sherman MONROVIA \u2013 In 2019, Akewa Group of companies, a Nigerian firm operating in Margibi and Grand Bassa County at the time, forged another company\u2019s document to acquire","og:url":"https:\/\/stage.thedaylight.org\/wp68\/2023\/03\/30\/logging-company-paid-us1000-fine-for-forgery-in-2019-document-reveals\/","og:image":"https:\/\/stage.thedaylight.org\/wp68\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/dji_fly_20230210_224654_65_1676176239497_photo-1-scaled.jpg","og:image:secure_url":"https:\/\/stage.thedaylight.org\/wp68\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/dji_fly_20230210_224654_65_1676176239497_photo-1-scaled.jpg","og:image:width":2560,"og:image:height":1920,"article:published_time":"2023-03-30T15:48:53+00:00","article:modified_time":"2023-03-30T16:54:33+00:00","article:publisher":"https:\/\/web.facebook.com\/news.thedaylight","twitter:card":"summary","twitter:title":"Logging Company Paid US$1,000 Fine For Forgery in 2019, Document Reveals - The DayLight","twitter:description":"Top: A drone shot of Kpelle Village, one of the communities affected by Akewa\u2019s operations in the Gola Konneh Community Forest. The DayLight\/James Harding Giahyue By Emmanuel Sherman MONROVIA \u2013 In 2019, Akewa Group of companies, a Nigerian firm operating in Margibi and Grand Bassa County at the time, forged another company\u2019s document to acquire","twitter:image":"https:\/\/stage.thedaylight.org\/wp68\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/cropped-site-identity.png"},"aioseo_meta_data":{"post_id":"3422","title":null,"description":null,"keywords":null,"keyphrases":null,"primary_term":null,"canonical_url":null,"og_title":null,"og_description":null,"og_object_type":"default","og_image_type":"default","og_image_url":null,"og_image_width":null,"og_image_height":null,"og_image_custom_url":null,"og_image_custom_fields":null,"og_video":null,"og_custom_url":null,"og_article_section":null,"og_article_tags":null,"twitter_use_og":false,"twitter_card":"default","twitter_image_type":"default","twitter_image_url":null,"twitter_image_custom_url":null,"twitter_image_custom_fields":null,"twitter_title":null,"twitter_description":null,"schema":{"blockGraphs":[],"customGraphs":[],"default":{"data":{"Article":[],"Course":[],"Dataset":[],"FAQPage":[],"Movie":[],"Person":[],"Product":[],"ProductReview":[],"Car":[],"Recipe":[],"Service":[],"SoftwareApplication":[],"WebPage":[]},"graphName":"","isEnabled":true},"graphs":[]},"schema_type":"default","schema_type_options":null,"pillar_content":false,"robots_default":true,"robots_noindex":false,"robots_noarchive":false,"robots_nosnippet":false,"robots_nofollow":false,"robots_noimageindex":false,"robots_noodp":false,"robots_notranslate":false,"robots_max_snippet":null,"robots_max_videopreview":null,"robots_max_imagepreview":"large","priority":null,"frequency":null,"local_seo":null,"seo_analyzer_scan_date":"2025-08-15 00:30:33","breadcrumb_settings":null,"limit_modified_date":false,"reviewed_by":null,"ai":null,"created":"2023-09-23 14:04:58","updated":"2025-10-21 23:46:20"},"aioseo_breadcrumb":"

\n\t\t\tHome<\/a>\n\t\t<\/span>\u00bb<\/span>\n\t\t\tRainforest<\/a>\n\t\t<\/span>\u00bb<\/span>\n\t\t\tLogging<\/a>\n\t\t<\/span>\u00bb<\/span>\n\t\t\tLogging Company Paid US$1,000 Fine For Forgery in 2019, Document Reveals\n\t\t<\/span><\/div>","aioseo_breadcrumb_json":[{"label":"Home","link":"https:\/\/stage.thedaylight.org\/wp68"},{"label":"Rainforest","link":"https:\/\/stage.thedaylight.org\/wp68\/category\/rainforest\/"},{"label":"Logging","link":"https:\/\/stage.thedaylight.org\/wp68\/category\/rainforest\/logging\/"},{"label":"Logging Company Paid US$1,000 Fine For Forgery in 2019, Document Reveals","link":"https:\/\/stage.thedaylight.org\/wp68\/2023\/03\/30\/logging-company-paid-us1000-fine-for-forgery-in-2019-document-reveals\/"}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stage.thedaylight.org\/wp68\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3422","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stage.thedaylight.org\/wp68\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stage.thedaylight.org\/wp68\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stage.thedaylight.org\/wp68\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stage.thedaylight.org\/wp68\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3422"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/stage.thedaylight.org\/wp68\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3422\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3432,"href":"https:\/\/stage.thedaylight.org\/wp68\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3422\/revisions\/3432"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stage.thedaylight.org\/wp68\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3426"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stage.thedaylight.org\/wp68\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3422"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stage.thedaylight.org\/wp68\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3422"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stage.thedaylight.org\/wp68\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3422"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}