As if the legal battle hanging over his head as a result of the Speakership of the House of Representatives is not enough, the self-proclaimed ruling party Speaker, Richard Nagbe Koon, is embroiled in another legal tussle-this time against his wife of 25 years.
Just a day after the Supreme Court reserved ruling over the legitimacy of his speakership, Angeline Mamie Worloh Koon filed a lawsuit at the Commercial Court. Mrs. Koon's lawsuit, however, has nothing to do with her husband's speakership.
Instead, she is requesting for her husband to properly account for money he generated from their joint properties that the speaker has managed for the last nineteen (19) years.
The lawsuit was filed by Mrs. Koon's lawyer, Cllr. Moriah Yeakula Korkpor, requesting for proper accounting to have her receive her due benefits from the proceeds of the rent of the apartments, in keeping with her 50% ownership.
Mrs. Koon alleges that in 2005, she and her husband developed the land and built five duplexes containing two apartments each making a total of ten apartments.
Angeline is the legal wife of Speaker Koon, and they have been married for 25 years, since 2000, according to the court records.
Angeline also claims that they acquired the joint property in March 2004, located in the Unity Conference Center Community, Hotel Africa Road, Virginia, Montserrado County, Liberia.
The property, the court document alleges, was probated in April 2004, and subsequently registered in Vol 03-04, Pages 270-272 of the Archives, with the deed bearing the names of both Angeline W. Koon and Richard W. Koon.
Initially, Mrs. Koon claims that, in 2007, they mutually agreed to use the properties for rental purposes to generate funds and support their family.
Since then and up to present, she alleges that Speaker Koon has neglected to provide her with any information about income being generated.
"But to date, Speaker Koon, as the one managing the properties, has failed [and] refused to inform his wife about funds from the rentals or leases and how such proceeds are being used and to whose benefit," Angeline said.
She said she and her husband, in 2007, estimated income for that year to be calculated at US$5,110.00. She claims that since then, (2007), she has no clue whether the projected income was met, exceeded or what the income for the last nineteen (19) years have been, taking into consideration inflation.
Mrs. Koon's argument is that the purpose of renting the properties have not been met. This is because Speaker Koon has not been accounting to her, prior to them having separate abodes, and he is still not accounting to her even now. According to her, Speaker Koon has been unable to properly maintain and manage the apartments. Although, the properties belong to both of them.
She also accused Speaker Koon of singlehandedly supervising the property, selecting tenants and collecting rents without any reference to her.
Speaker Koon, she claimed, has operated and managed their apartments to her total exclusion. She said she does not have any knowledge of the tenants currently occupying all the apartments because, according to Mrs. Koon, her husband has failed to account or make any form of report to her.
"He has deprived me of my rights to the income generated and every effort to get information about our joint property and proceeds generated from rentals and or leases, have yielded no results over the years," Mrs. Koon alleged.
Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters
Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox
She claimed that any attempt to ask her husband for accountability always ends up in confusion. "Some time in 2015, we had a heated argument about his lack of accounting and report on the proceeds from the rent."
Following that argument, Angeline claimed that her husband told her to go to the apartments and ask the tenants for copies of their receipts.
But, before she could reach there, her husband had instructed the tenants not to deal with her, in spite of their joint ownership.
"This is depriving her of her share from the rent," the lawsuit alleges.
This is why she filed the lawsuit for the court, to grant her petition for proper accounting, to have her receive her due benefits from the proceeds of the rent of the apartments, in keeping with her 50% ownership.
