MONROVIA – A damning audit report by the General Auditing Commission (GAC) has exposed massive financial irregularities, missing funds, and possible violations of Liberian law in a controversial petroleum storage agreement between the Liberia Petroleum Refining Company (LPRC) and Bea Mountain Mining Corporation (BMMC), raising sharp questions about government accountability and presidential oversight of public contracts.
The GAC report, titled “Auditor General’s Report on the Compliance Audit on the Contractual Agreement between Liberia Petroleum Refining Company (LPRC) and Bea Mountain Mining Corporation (BMMC)” and released in January 2025, covers the period February 1, 2022, to July 31, 2024. It was authorized by Auditor General P. Garswa Jackson, FCCA, CFIP, CFC.
According to the GAC document obtained by Smart News Liberia, the petroleum storage and lease deal valued at US$17,088,297.02 was executed in February 2022 by then LPRC Managing Director Marie Urey Coleman and Bea Mountain’s General Manager Reza Karimiyan, without any evidence of the President of Liberia’s approval as required by law.
“We observed that the Liberia Petroleum Refining Company (LPRC) and Bea Mountain Mining Corporation (BMMC) entered into a Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT) agreement in February 2022… without evidence of the explicit approval of the President of Liberia,” the GAC report stated.
The Auditor General further noted that the LPRC Board’s resolution authorizing the deal “did not explicitly denote the President’s approval,” a lapse that, in the words of the GAC, “may render the agreement invalid and unenforceable.”
In a stern warning, the GAC emphasized that “management may be non-compliant with Section 1 (2) of the July 26, 1989 Act,” urging LPRC to “regularize the agreement” and “solicit presidential approval to guarantee its validity and enforceability.”
The audit uncovered glaring discrepancies in royalty payments made by Bea Mountain for the storage of petroleum products from December 2023 to April 2024, revealing that large sums billed by LPRC either went unpaid or were not properly documented.
The report cites that US$306,647.95 billed to Bea Mountain for December 2023 was never paid, while royalty payments of US$57,715.00 in January 2024 and US$149,667.00 in April 2024 lacked invoices and supporting documentation.
The GAC cautioned that “in the absence of adequate supporting documentation, the validity, occurrence, and accuracy of payments may not be assured,” warning that such weaknesses could lead to “misappropriation of public funds.”
In total, the GAC identified a variance of US$377,367.60 between bills raised and payments received. The report ordered the LPRC to account for this difference “within thirty days after the issuance of the Auditor General’s Report to the National Legislature.”
Current LPRC management, headed by Managing Director Amos B. Tweh, dismissed the audit’s findings as “misleading,” insisting that “there were absolutely no irregularities associated with the payments of royalties to Management by BMMC.”
LPRC claimed all payments were made through bank transfers and supported by invoices, but the Auditor General rejected these explanations as inconsistent with evidence.
“Management’s assertions did not adequately address the issues raised,” the GAC maintained. “Our comprehensive analysis of bills for actual payments reviewed indicates that payments were not made consistent with Management’s assertions.”
The GAC also found that LPRC failed to conduct “periodic reconciliation between the number of gallons lifted, bills raised, the amount received, and the amount outstanding,” describing the company’s recordkeeping as “grossly inadequate for a state-owned enterprise managing public resources.”
The revelations come at a politically sensitive time for President Joseph Nyuma Boakai’s administration, which has promised to champion integrity and fiscal transparency. The audit’s finding that a multimillion-dollar agreement proceeded without presidential approval raises uncomfortable questions about executive oversight during both the Weah and Boakai administrations.
In the wake of the report, Senate Pro Tempore Nyonblee Karnga-Lawrence has instructed the Senate to review all existing LPRC agreements with private companies, signaling a broader inquiry into potential systemic breaches of financial governance.
Political observers warn that if the GAC’s findings are left unaddressed, Liberia’s fight against corruption could suffer another credibility blow, further eroding public trust in state institutions.
The GAC concluded its report with a clear directive:
“Management should account for the variance of US$377,367.60 between bills raised and actual payments of royalties… and ensure all transactions are supported by requisite documents consistent with the agreement and financial management regulations.”
As the National Legislature prepares to debate the report, Liberians are watching closely to see whether the government’s actions will match its anti-corruption rhetoric or whether another case of financial mismanagement will quietly fade away.
