Lebanese National Jailed

Lebanese National Jailed

By Yassah J Wright

The Monrovia City Court, on Monday, July 28, 2025, arrested and sent to jail Leonard Wayne Kragness, a Lebanese national. Kragness arrest and imprisonment came through a complaint Fida Sardor Hussian filed with the court for forgery and theft. Complainant Hussian told the Monrovia City Court Magistrate Ben Barco that in 2024, in the counties of Montserrado, Grand Kru and Sinoe, defendant Kragness, having been employed with the Hussian Entity did commit the acts of forgery, theft of and other crimes. According to the writ of arrest, Kragness responsibility at the entity was to file in mineral mining exploration application, the license for three mining blocks and energy, but he conspired with co-defendant Koisee L. N. Garmo II, who claimed to be a 100 percent shareholder and owner of the Sinoe Mining and Exploration Inc.

While in the process, according to the record, co-defendant Garmo, criminally wrote and signed an attestation letter to Erwin Mulder, CEO of Ace Global B.V. Breitnerlaan 352, 2596, HH, in the Hague, Netherlands. The defendants knowingly, forged the signature of Oliver Fahn Garmo on a mineral exploration letter for Green Resource Liberia, which resulted into the loss of three defined Mineral Blocks, 1,2 and 3 with deposits of mineral largely gold value of US$4,819, 321,807.

The defendants were charged with criminal conspiracy, criminal facilitation, forgery and theft of property.

Meanwhile, Koisee L. N. Garmo and Fahn Garmo, are the run, while Leonard Wayne Kragness, is currently at the Monrovia Central Prison pending court trial.

The unauthorized withdrawal of funds

Between August, 2012 and April, 2024, Kragness accumulated an unauthorized debt from various sources for business purposes, aggregating  To US$3,544,035, without the knowledge or prior approval of the CEO.  He used the majority of the debt for personal purpose rather than utilizing it for the exploration and development of mineral assets, the primary objective of mineral exploration licenses.  On July 11 and 12, 2024, Kragness ransacked the company account and transferred all the funds to his company AA Agro’s account at Ecobank. Additionally, large ATM withdrawals are also visible in  the attached account statements as contained in the attached Annexure ‘B’ of the court’s document for the details. The withdrawals of US$60,000 and US$90,500 are significant recent examples of the ongoing violations.  The total amount withdrawn from the company’s account by Kragness amounted to US$3,544,035.

 On July 13, 2024, a notice was issued to Kragness, requiring him to show cause for the unauthorized withdrawals in July, 2024.  He did not respond and cut off all communications until recently when he was arrested.