By G. Watson Richards
1 Min. Reading Time
The high-profile Capitol Building arson trial took a dramatic turn on Monday when the Liberia Revenue Authority (LRA), acting under a court subpoena, declared several bond-related documents submitted by the defense as fake and fraudulent.The subpoena ad testificandum, a legal order compelling witness testimony, required the LRA to verify the authenticity of documents used to secure a Criminal Appearance Bond for six co-defendants facing charges of arson and criminal conspiracy.
At the center of the dispute are two key documents: a Property Valuation Statement and a Real Property Tax Bill both submitted by the defense to validate the bond’s legitimacy.
In response to concerns raised by the prosecution over the validity of the materials, the court also issued a subpoena duces tecum, which compels the production of documents for inspection.
The LRA was ordered to bring and review the disputed materials during open court proceedings.
Taking the witness stand under oath, Mr. James Afif Jabar, Assistant Commissioner for Real Estate Tax at the LRA, delivered a damning assessment of the documents.
“These documents did not originate from our systems,” Jabar testified. “The property ID is non-existent, the tax calculations are mathematically inaccurate, and the receipts are untraceable. This is a clear case of document falsification.”
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