The Civil Law Court 'A' for Montserrado County will on today, October 3, commence the trial of a US$700,000 Libel Case involving defendants Ecobank Liberia Limited, and Yussif S. Kromah, the bank Reconciliation Officer assigned to the Card Operation Department.
The most serious crime the bank faces, focuses on allegations that they portray Mr. Wilmot Smith, (plaintiff), as being corrupt in a series of media publications when Smith served as deputy director general for information Coordination at the Liberia Institute for Statistics and Geo Information Services (LISGI) under former President George Weah's regime.
During Thursday's proceedings lawyers for the co-defendant Ecobank and Smith expected to examine 15 prospective jurors throughout the day, which would assist the court to make an impartial decision.
President Weah relied on the media publications to dismiss Smith of his position and suggested him to an Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission (LACC) investigation.
The defendants expected to defend a charge of damages for wrongful by attachment, relating to the allege leaking of details of the Liberia Institute for Statistics and Geo Information Services Statistics and Geo Information Services (LISGIS) account number 6101350441 and 6100064362, to Mr Alex Williams, LIGIS's former deputy director for Statistics, a non-signatory to the account.
The accused, Ecobank, has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.
The bank, however, argues that its investigation linked Kromah to allegedly leaking information of LIGIS's account details to Mr Alex Williams, former LIGIS's deputy director for Statistics, a non-signatory to the account.
Williams being disgruntled and having access to such information, he was behind the Spoon discussion of the leaked account that tarnished Smith's reputation.
The total value of the lawsuit is US$500 000 in general damages and US$200,000 as punitive damages.
Smith, however, argues that Kromah's action was exhibited within the regular course of duty of the co-defendant Ecobank, citing the doctrine of Respondents Superior.
Under this law, the co-defendant Eco-bank cannot avoid responsibility for the wrongful conduct of its employee.
But the bank argued that it did authorized Kromah to allegedly leaked information of LIGIS's account numbers 6101350441 and 6100064362 details to Mr Alex Williams, LIGIS's former deputy director for Statistics.
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Williams, Smith claims, who is one of the panelists on the Spoon Talk Show, used the leaked statement, to accuse the plaintiff of withdrawing monies from the said accounts, and diverted the same to his personal benefits.
The bank has repeatedly argued that they have no knowledge of Kromah's action and cannot be held liable for their employee conduct.
Co-defendant Ecobank further argued that after the accusation, they conducted an immediate investigation of Yussif S. Kromah, the bank Reconciliation Officer assigned to the Card Operation Department.
The investigative findings, the bank said, accused Kromah of leaking information of LIGIS's account details to Mr. Alex Williams, deputy director for Statistics, at LISGIS, who is not authorized by LIGIS, and a non-signatory to the account.
The investigation recommended dismissal of Kromah for the sharing of confidential customer statements with Alex Williams, a former signatory to the LIGIS's account, and they did so, to avoid the lawsuit.
Kromah, according to the investigation, confirmed that the statement of accounts he submitted to Williams was the same account displayed on the Social Media platform of Martins Kollie, a political activist.
According to the investigation, Kromah confirmed that he shared the statement with Williams, but he acted based on trust and not to bring the bank to disrepute.
But the co-defendant argued that neither that nor any other of the alleged contention raised by the plaintiff had any bearing on the bank.
The investigation recommended dismissal of Kromah for the sharing of confidential customer statement with Alex Williams, a former signatory to the LIGIS's account.
