Lawyers representing imprisoned Nora Finda Bundo, have petitioned the Supreme Court Justice in chamber, Associate Justice, Yussif D. Kaba to stop the enforcement of a Criminal Court ‘C’ ruling.
The lawyers argued that the court ruling led to their client’s incarceration at the Monrovia Central Prison (MCP).
In a Petition for a writ of prohibition filed before Justice Kaba, the lawyers requested the highest court to overturn Judge Ousman F. Feika’s decision denied her motion to justify sureties, rejecting her criminal appearance bond, ordering her immediate arrest, Jailed and requiring her to post a US$8 million criminal appearance bond.
Finda is one of more than 48 defendants indicted in a sweeping corruption case the Assets Recovery and Property Retrieval Task Force (AREPT) had prosecuted.
She faces charges of money laundering, theft of property, misuse of public money, property and records, criminal conspiracy, forgery, and criminal facilitation alongside several current and former government officials and private individuals.
In the petition filed before Justice Kaba, the lawyers stated that Finda was outside the country on “medical treatment” when the grand jury returned the indictment on November 5, 2025.
After learning of the charges, the lawyers claimed, she voluntarily returned on June 9, 2026, presented herself before Criminal Court ‘C, accepted service of the writ of arrest and indictment, and immediately submitted herself to the jurisdiction of the court.
Her lawyers had argued that her “voluntary return demonstrates respect for the judicial process, and undermines any suggestion that she intended to flee prosecution.”
Court records showed that Finda’s first criminal appearance bond was rejected after the court ruled that one surety, Counselor Abraham Wade Simpson, could not legally serve as both defense counsel and surety, while another surety, Fallah Fallabou, was himself a defendant in the same criminal case.
Judge Feika then granted Finda 72 hours to file another bond.
She subsequently filed a new bond backed by Counselor John Moses Gbetee, and Kai Garlo Farley, but prosecutors again objected.
They argued that Gbetee’s property had already been pledged in several other criminal bonds, and that the bond amount itself was insufficient, “because it did not correspond with the amount Finda allegedly misappropriated.”
In his ruling delivered on Tuesday, July 21, Judge Feika agreed with the prosecution, finding that Gbetee’s property valued at approximately US$350,000 had already been heavily encumbered by bonds totaling more than US$2 million, rendering it unsuitable as security.
The judge also accepted the prosecution’s position that Finda’s bond should reflect the amount attributed to her in the indictment and fix her criminal appearance bond at US$8 million.
He then ordered that Finda be immediately arrested and detained at MCP if she was not able to satisfy the court’s requirements.
Finda challenged the ruling, and argued that Judge Feika acted “contrary to the civil procedure law by denying her the legally mandated 72-hour period to file a replacement, or additional bond after declaring her existing bond insufficient.
Her lawyers contend that instead of allowing the statutory period provided by law, the judge immediately ordered her imprisonment, an action they described as “unlawful and unconstitutional.”
The petition further argues that the US$8 million bond violates Article 21 of the constitution, which guarantees every accused person the right to reasonable bail, and expressly prohibits excessive bail and excessive punishment.
Her defense claimed she is only one of more than 48 jointly indicted defendants, many of whom have already secured their release on separate bonds.
Meanwhile, Finda is at MCP until the high court can decide the next legal steps in the proceedings, or a legally acceptable bond is approved.
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