Published: July 22, 2026
MONROVIA – The jurors who acquitted former Finance Minister Samuel D. Tweah Jr. smuggled mobile phones into their sequestered quarters, communicated with dozens of people on the outside and later coordinated a common story to deny it all, a court investigation has found, naming Juror George Dennis as the alleged ringleader of the cover-up.
The findings cast a deeper shadow over the verdict in one of Liberia’s most consequential corruption trials, giving prosecutors and the court documented grounds to argue that the panel that cleared the former minister was compromised during deliberations.
Tweah responded with open defiance within hours of Tuesday’s ruling, dismissing it as a “kangaroo” decision and declaring that he would not recognize any further court process in the matter.
“No judge, no justice and no President can ever change my NOT GUILTY verdict. It is etched in the history of our country,” the former minister wrote in a social media post, asserting that Liberian justice and democracy had taken “a gigantic step backwards” and vowing to “resist this slide into anarchy.”
Tweah said he had instructed his lawyers to file nothing before the Supreme Court and that he would not submit himself to any process there, writing: “We have left the law and are now in the full realm of politics.” He closed the post declaring, “I remain a free man,” and signing off as a “FEARLESS Grebo warrior.”
The investigation, ordered after allegations of misconduct surfaced in connection with the trial, matched jurors’ sworn testimony against phone records and other evidence, and concluded that several jurors gave accounts the records contradict.
At the center of the findings is Dennis, whom investigators accuse of organizing a plan among jurors to present a united front when questioned: that no phones were brought into the jury quarters, that no juror used a telephone during sequestration, and that the misconduct allegations were false.
According to the findings, the plan unraveled when Dennis contacted fellow juror Catherine Quawah to brief her on what the jurors had agreed to say. Quawah recorded the conversation, and when it was played in open court, Dennis could be heard discussing the arrangement. He initially denied Quawah’s account but later admitted the voice on the recording was his.
The investigation concluded that Dennis’ conduct amounted to tampering with the inquiry itself, finding that he attempted to influence testimony and conceal information from the court.
Juror Arnold Vincent was also identified as a key figure. Before reporting for jury service, Vincent told the court his phone had been stolen in a burglary at his home, using the claim to request that his wife be given access to his bank account while he served. Investigators later found phone numbers registered to Vincent in call records showing activity during sequestration, and concluded the stolen-phone claim was fabricated to conceal his possession and use of SIM cards. The report described his actions as deliberate deception of the court.
Call-log analysis showed that Juror Johnathan Bundoo’s phone was active before and during his jury service, and that he used it from inside the jury quarters to communicate with 23 people on the outside. Bundoo denied having or using any phone during sequestration; the investigation found his testimony inconsistent with the records.
Juror Lucy T. Menyongai likewise denied seeing or using any telephone inside the quarters, but investigators said her number was active during sequestration and was used to make calls and exchange messages. The report found that other jurors also used Menyongai’s phone to reach people outside.
Juror Maximum Dillon denied using or seeing phones inside the quarters as well. Call records, however, showed he used phones belonging to Quawah and Menyongai to contact his wife, contradicting his sworn statement, the investigation found.
The fullest account of the operation came from Quawah and fellow affiant Cynthia Sarplah, who, unlike the jurors who denied everything, detailed how the phones got in. Quawah admitted arranging for her boyfriend to buy a phone and leave it in a courthouse bathroom, where she retrieved it and used it while sequestered. She and Sarplah testified that phones belonging to Menyongai, Bundoo and Vincent were used to make calls outside the jury quarters.
Taken together, the investigation concluded, the misconduct went well beyond breaking a no-phone rule. It found that jurors smuggled phones and SIM cards into sequestration, communicated with outsiders throughout, gave sworn testimony contradicted by phone records and coordinated their stories before appearing before the court.
The findings place the integrity of the jury process under serious examination as the court weighs consequences for those accused of interfering with the administration of justice.
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