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Editor\u2019s Note: This is the first of a two-part series on a Lebanese businessperson\u2019s illegal activities.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n MONROVIA \u2013 On March 29, a distinguished crowd gathered at the University of Liberia\u2019s Fendell campus to witness the official handover<\/a> of its fisheries and aquaculture sciences department. Managed by the National Fisheries and Aquaculture Authority (NaFAA) with support from the World Bank, the state-of-the-art facility features 28 rooms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The two-story building was constructed by Mak Enterprises Incorporated, a Lebanese-owned real estate company established in April 2017, according to its articles of incorporation and business registration certificate. The company had defeated 20 other bidders to win the bid for the US$498,203.52 contract, intended to improve Liberia\u2019s fisheries sector.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis facility will serve as a beacon of knowledge, training future generations of fisheries professionals, scientists, and policymakers who will drive the sustainable development of Liberia’s vast marine resources,” Dr. Layli Marpanyan, president of the University of Liberia, told the dedication ceremony.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Perhaps, what no one knew was that Mak Enterprises\u2019 owner, Moussa Abdul Karim, was involved in illegal timber trafficking, tax evasion and money laundering. Karim\u2019s illegal activities have defrauded the Liberian Government of tens of thousands of United States dollars for nearly a decade, a DayLight investigation found.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The findings raise questions as to how Mak Enterprises won the bid to construct the fisheries college when the other bidders failed due to noncompliance. The second part of this series will investigate Karim\u2019s path to clinching the contract, including his company’s tender.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A year before winning the bid, Karim exported a US$135,000 worth of sawn timber through his second company, Mak Timber Group Liberia Inc. The buyer was Popular Export & Import Company of Bangladesh, according to the Ministry of Commerce & Industry\u2019s records. Mak Timber Group\u2019s tax history shows no payments for timber transport, permit, export and phytosanitary certificate, a Ministry of Agriculture document that certifies that the timber is pest-free for shipment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Forestry Development Authority (FDA) records show that the export occurred outside LiberTrace, the legal channel through which timber is traded in and out of Liberia. It is a crucial part of Liberia\u2019s timber trade agreement with the European Union, known as the Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA). Liberian Timber trade is strictly regulated under the National Forestry Reform Law and the Regulation on Establishing a Chain of Custody System, which requires timber harvest, transport, export, and associated payments to be recorded in LiberTrace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Experts say Liberia loses about US$1 billion each year due to these illegal financial transactions. In 2023, the US-based Associated Press reported that 70 percent of Liberian timber is perhaps exported outside the legal channel<\/a>, citing diplomatic sources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2018Exotic timber\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Apart from the lone export, there are no other traces of Karim\u2019s illicit timber trafficking, but social media provides some clues. Pictures of the wood advertised on Karim\u2019s WhatsApp profile show timber blocks, commonly called Kpokolo, in large and medium sizes, bearing a striking resemblance<\/a> to other documented timber smugglers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The pictures share the same caption: \u201cexotic timber & services,\u201d under the banner \u201cMak Enterprises Inc,\u201d a combination of Karim\u2019s wood and construction businesses. In one picture, timber blocks are shown neatly parked in a container. In another, a man stands behind a pile of gigantic timber blocks on an open field.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Most of the timber in the pictures are marked \u201cAWLC\u201d for African Wood & Lumber Company, which has a contract with the Marblee & Karblee Community Forest in Compound Number Two, Grand Bassa County. Cesare Colombo, African Wood & Lumber\u2019s owner, denies having any connection with Karim or his company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe don\u2019t know who those people are, we do not have any connection or discussion with them. I just received this information from you and I will take all the necessary action to avoid this kind of problem,\u201d Colombo said in an email reply to The DayLight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Tax histories of Mak Enterprises, Mak Timber Group and Atlantic Developers & Logistics\u2014Karim\u2019s third company\u2014revealed he evaded more than US$12,000 for work and residents permits between 2017 and 2025. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The DayLight estimated the value based on official prices: non-Africans pay US$1,000 for a regular work permit, and US$750 for an initial resident permit and US$350 for a renewal. We separately multiplied those figures by nine years, the lifespan of the oldest of Karim\u2019s companies, and added the products. The amount did not include fees that Karim did not pay to the FDA or the Ministry of Agriculture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
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