Liberia detains 15 over missing £80m

FIFTEEN people, including the son of Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, the former Liberian president, have been banned from leaving the country while the government investigates the whereabouts of missing cash worth £80 million.

A series of shipments of notes ordered by Liberia’s Central Bank from printers overseas disappeared after passing through the country’s ports, Eugene Nagbe, the Liberian information minister, told local radio.

The missing amount – 16 billion in Liberian dollars – is the equivalent of nearly 5 per cent of the West African country’s GDP.

Charles Sirleaf, the son of the Nobel Peace Prize winning former president, and Milton Weeks, the former central bank governor, are among those barred from travel as part of the investigation.

Neither Mr Sirleaf nor Mr Weeks was immediately reachable for comment. Central Bank officials also did not respond to requests for comment.