The Supreme Court of Liberia, through Justice in Chambers Jamesetta Howard Wolokolie, has placed a stay order on proceedings in the corruption case involving former Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Thelma Duncan Sawyer. Sawyer faces multiple charges, including money laundering, theft of property, and misuse of public office.
Mrs. Sawyer was arrested and detained at the Monrovia Central Prison on November 7, 2025, her second incarceration in connection with the case. She stands accused of misappropriating rice donated by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for disaster victims.
In August, Sawyer was indicted alongside former Foreign Affairs Minister Dee-Maxwell Saah Kemayah, former Internal Affairs Minister Varney Sirleaf, and former National Disaster Management Agency head Henry O. Williams, among several others.
The Supreme Court's latest directive orders Criminal Court 'C' Judge Ousman F. Feika and Edwin Kla Martin, Chairperson of the Asset Recovery and Property Retrieval Task Force, to appear for a conference scheduled for December 2, 2025.
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The order reads: "By directive of Her Honor Jamesetta H. Wolokolie, Associate Justice presiding in Chambers, you are hereby cited to a conference with Her Honor on Tuesday, December 2, 2025, at the hour of 3:00 p.m. in connection with the above-captioned case. Meanwhile, you are ordered to stay all further proceedings and/or actions in the matter pending the outcome of the conference."
Before the Supreme Court's intervention, Criminal Court 'C' at the Temple of Justice had approved a property valuation bond for 13 of the defendants on November 12, 2025. The bond was filed by lawyers representing the accused, including former Chief of Protocol Finda Nora Bundoo, and was backed by land deeds submitted as surety.
The bond, prepared by Cllr. Garrison Doldeh Yealue, Fayiah Fallambu, and Tina Fallambu, lists properties located in Silver Beach, Duazon along the Roberts International Airport highway in Margibi County; Gardnersville; and the Shoe Factory Community in Montserrado County. The deeds were probated on June 22, 2008, and registered in accordance with Liberian law, with taxes paid through October 3, 2025.
According to court records, the conditions of the bond state that it indemnifies the defendants against costs and damages arising from the ongoing case and ensures compliance with any final judgment rendered by the court.
The defendants covered by the bond include Antoinette D. Anderson, Gayflor Y. Mulbah, Mohammed Toure, Johnson Sumo, Praise Farley, Joyce P. Sawyer, Philip Toe, Francis Blamo, Fayiah Fallambu, Benjamin Tarlo Lathrobe, Seth A. Torgbe, and Teahdeey A. Robertson.
On November 5, 2025, Judge Feika issued an indictment and writ of arrest for Bundoo, her daughter Anita Pamela Jallah, Gracious Ride Manager Francis T. Blamo, and several others following an investigation by the Asset Recovery and Property Retrieval Task Force. The investigation reportedly uncovered a web of suspicious property acquisitions and financial transactions linked to the defendants.
The indictment, filed by a Grand Jury for Montserrado County, accuses the defendants of money laundering, theft of property, misuse of public funds, criminal conspiracy, forgery, and criminal facilitation. The named individuals include Bundoo, Jallah, Blamo, Emmanuel Kollie, Jimmy Emmanuel Flomo, Anthony Saytue, Philip Toe, Praise Farley, Edwin Kai, Joyce Sawyer, Susannah Nollen, Catherine Satia, Boyd Wah, Gertrude Daye, Jartu Tamba, and Comfort Saye. Additional defendants are Thelma Fanta Kromah, Socrate Weah, Kokulo S. Dorbor, Gayflor Mulbah, Johnson Sumo, Rev. Fallo Fallah, Mohammed Toure, Sophie Petter, and several others described in the court's writ as "to be identified."
The writ of arrest states: "You are hereby commanded to arrest the living bodies of the above-named defendants in the above-entitled cause of action, charged with the commission of the above-mentioned crimes, based on the indictment prepared against them by the duly selected, empanelled, and sworn Grand Jury to inquire in and for the people of Montserrado County, Republic of Liberia, and to immediately bring them before this honorable court sitting in its August Term A.D. 2025, to answer the said charges mentioned supra."
The court also issued a search and seizure order authorizing law enforcement officers to enter several properties believed to be owned by the defendants. These properties include multiple residential compounds and buildings in Christopolis, Brewerville; Rehab and Paynesville; Caldwell Township; Perry Street, Monrovia; and Johnsonville.
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The search warrant specifically lists several defendants, including Bundoo, Blamo, Saah S. Johnson, Thelma Duncan Sawyer, Praise Farley, Comfort Saye, and Timmy Emmanuel Flomo. The warrant instructs officers to seize any materials or documents related to the ongoing corruption investigation.
According to the commitment order, defendants Sawyer, Edmund Ponpon Jr., and Saah S. Johnson were arrested early on Friday, November 7, 2025, and taken to Monrovia Central Prison while awaiting the filing and approval of proper bail bonds.
The case is one of the most closely watched corruption trials under the current administration's Asset Recovery and Property Retrieval campaign, which has already resulted in the arrest and indictment of several former high-ranking government officials.
