Criminal Court “C” Friday issued arrest and search warrants in a sweeping anticorruption action that prosecutors say seeks to recover nearly $10 million in assets allegedly acquired unlawfully by a network centered on former Chief of Protocol Finda Nora Bundoo, who served under Ex President George Weah.
Judge Ousman F. Feika authorized the warrants on November 5 following a grand jury indictment based on findings from the Assets Recovery and Property Retrieval Task Force (AREPT).
Court filings and task force statements accuse Bundoo, her daughter Anita Pamela Jallah — chief executive officer of the Anita Group of Companies — and Francis T. Blamo, manager of Gracious Ride, of leading a network that acquired multiple properties, vehicles and business interests believed to have been financed with proceeds of public corruption.
Prosecutors allege the group used corporate fronts and related entities to launder stolen public funds. The indictment lists more than two dozen individuals connected to the Anita Group network and additional associated companies, bringing charges that include money laundering, theft of property, misuse of public funds, criminal conspiracy, forgery and criminal facilitation.
Court orders authorized law enforcement to arrest all named defendants and to conduct search and seizure operations at locations tied to the suspects. Targeted sites include Bundoo’s properties in Christopolis, Brewerville and the Rehab area of Paynesville; buildings linked to Francis Blamo in Marshall and Zubah Town; and a residence associated with Deputy Minister for Administration Thelma E. Duncan Sawyer in Caldwell.
Warrants also permit inspection and confiscation of other residential and commercial properties in Monrovia and surrounding districts as investigators trace the origins of the assets.
Law enforcement began executing the warrants early Friday. Thelma E. Duncan Sawyer, G. Edmund Ponpon Jr. and Saah S. Johnson were arrested and taken to Monrovia Central Prison; they remain in custody pending court determinations on bail. Other suspects remain at large as police step up efforts to locate and apprehend them.
According to AREPT and court documents, financial records tied to the principal defendants show unexplained accumulations of wealth between 2020 and 2023 — including more than $6.7 million in U.S. dollars, L$457 million in Liberian currency, luxury vehicles and multiple properties.
Prosecutors say those sums, together with separately alleged misappropriations such as a $2.5 million diversion of Saudi donated funds, bring the total value of assets under scrutiny close to $10 million, which they are now seeking to recover and return to the state.
In a related development, investigators allege that a contracted company, MDMC, was contracted to provide 20 SUVs for ministry use but delivered only two used vehicles and failed to account for more than $851,000. AREPT officials said that more than 40 cases remain under investigation, including inquiries into the disappearance of donated rice and other public resources.
Prosecutors say the court action follows a Supreme Court decision that recently lifted a nine-month legal restriction on AREPT’s operations, clearing the way for expanded asset recovery efforts. The task force has said its objective is to identify, recover and repatriate public assets believed to have been acquired unlawfully during Bundoo’s tenure in government.
The operation marks one of the most significant moves in the current administration’s anticorruption campaign and signals intensified efforts to hold former officials and their associates accountable. Authorities have emphasized that the allegations remain subject to judicial processes and that those named in the indictments are entitled to due process as the cases proceed in Criminal Court “C.”
