IPNews-Monrovia: Since the listing and subsequent economic sanctioning by the United States Department of Treasury, of one of Liberia’s renown lawyer and politician, Cllr. H. Varney Sherman, little had been heard off the Grand Cape Mount County, Senator who was placed on how he feels about recent economic sanction by the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) for alleged involvement in a series of bribery and corruption.
Now the lawyer turned politician in response to the allegations, blasted the conspicuous silence of members of the Liberian Senate to seek clarity on the allegations against one of its member.
Cllr. Sherman stated that it was inconceivable that his hard earned reputation could be dash alone life’s line because of lies and hypocrisy.
Senator Varney Sherman contended in a 10-page response that In his 10-page response to the allegations of bribery and influencing the removal of Associate Justice Kabineh Ja’neh, that ‘why would he plot the removal of the very judge whom he pleaded for before the Supreme Court when his confirmation by the Senate as Judge of the Supreme Court was contested against by civil society organizations due to his involvement with a rebel faction, especially the Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy.
“It is inconceivable that I, who fought a case for Justice Ja’Neh to be seated as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, would serve as a conduit or facilitator of payment of bribes to politicians to impeach Justice Ja’Neh and remove him from office. I emphatically and categorically deny that accusation. And why would anybody select me as the conduit or facilitator for that purpose?”
He contended that the complaint to the House of Representatives against Justice Ja’neh that warranted the bill of impeachment against him was prepared by Rep. Acarous Gray and Rep. Thomas Fallah, both of the ruling Congress for Democratic Change (CDC).
Cllr. Sherman: “Why would anybody select me, not other officers of the House of Representatives and the Senate, to be the one to pay bribes to politicians for the impeachment of Justice Ja’Neh? And who gave me the funds to bribe these politicians? Or is it OFAC’s assumption that I used my personal funds to bribe politicians (members of the House of Representatives and the Senate), most of whom were members of the Congress for Democratic Change, to impeach Justice Ja’Neh?
“I deny ever being the conduit or facilitator for the payment of bribes to Liberian politicians to impeach Justice Ja’Neh or any other judge from office; but more than that the records of the Senate will reveal that when the impeachment of Justice Ja’Neh commenced at the House of Representatives, it is I, as Chairman of the Judiciary Committee, who drafted an amendment to Rule 63 of the Senate’s Standing Rules (the Impeachment Rule) to ensure that Justice Ja’Neh and any future person who is a subject of impeachment was secured and guaranteed his/her constitutional rights to a fair and transparent hearing consistent with due process. Please recall that the original Rule 63 provides for an impeachment hearing by the Senate to be conducted by an ad hoc committee of the Senate and a report from that ad hoc committee be voted upon by a simple majority of Senators then sitting through a “Yea” and “Nay” vote.” Cllr, Senator Verney Sherman contended.
It may be recalled, the U.S. Department of Treasury in commemoration of International Anti-Corruption Day,stated that it remains committed to imposing costs on those who facilitate corruption at the expense of the poor people.
“On International Anti-Corruption Day, Treasury remains fully committed to imposing costs on those who facilitate corruption at the expense of the people,” said Deputy Secretary Justin G. Muzinich.
The Allegation:
Cllr. Sherman, according to the OFAC, “has routinely paid judges to decide cases in his favor, and he has allegedly facilitated payments to Liberian politicians to support impeachment of a judge who has ruled against him.”
Senator Sherman, according to the U.S. Government, also allegedly offered bribes to be set free from a bribery case he and some other top government officials in Liberia, including former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Alex J. Tyler, were connected to.
Global Witness, a British corruption watchdog, in 2015, alleged that Sable Mining Company, through Cllr. Varney Sherman, the company’s legal representative, and his colleagues conspired to circumvent the law in order for the company to get a concession to mine the Wologisi Mountain in Lofa without going through a competitive bidding process.
“Varney Sherman, now a prominent lawyer, Liberian Senator, and chair of the Liberian Senate Judiciary Committee, offered bribes to multiple judges associated with his trial for 2010 bribery scheme, and he had an undisclosed conflict of interest with judge who ultimately returned a not guilty verdict in July 2019,” the release said.
“In the 2010 scheme that led to his trial, Sherman was hired by a British Mining company in an effort to obtain one of Liberia’s last mining assets, the Wologisi iron ore concession. Sherman advised the company that, in order to obtain the contract, they first had to get Liberia’s procurement and concession law changed by bribing senior officials,” the U.S. Government further noted.
It added: “In 2016, Sherman was indicted by the Liberian government, along to several government officials, for their involvement in the US$950,000 bribery scheme.”
