6. The defendant in opposing the application stated that when the applicant
arrived at the Roberts International Airport on the 9th of September 2006, he
submitted
to
Immigration
and
Customs,
Bureau
of
Immigration
and
Naturalization, Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Finance but at every point
he declared that he was bringing nothing of value into the country that warranted
a declaration as per the requirements of both the Immigration and Naturalization
Law and the Revenue Code of Liberia Act of 2000. Defendant averred that it was
when plaintiff was leaving the airport that security personnel were alerted that
the applicant had falsely stated that he was carrying nothing that warranted a
declaration. Defendant continued that when plaintiff was accosted and searched, it was
found
that
he had
subsequently seized
US$508,200.00 strapped to
his body.
The money
and
Bank for
verification whilst
sent
to
the
Central
was
investigation continued as to why plaintiff failed to declare to the Central Bank
personnel as well as the Immigration and Custom authorities at the airport. A
copy of the report of the Criminal Investigation Division of the Liberian National
-·
Police which narrates the incident was attached as defendant's Exhibit "R-3".
7. Further, defendant averred that whilst investigations continued, her County
-
Attorney for Montserrado County filed an application with the Circuit Court of the
First Judicial Circuit, Criminal Assizes "C" for the confiscation of the money seized
by the security officials from the plaintiff. A copy of the said application was
attached and marked as respondent's Exhibit "R-4". An Order of Confiscation was
issued by the said Court on December 1, 2006 and a copy was attached and
marked as Exhibits "R-5" and "R-6" of defendant's pleadings.
8. Defendant stated that investigations continued into the matter and a Status
Report was released on 30th September 2006 and copy of it was attached and
marked Exhibit "R-3" of the defendant's pleadings. Following the Status Report,
defendant's officials continued their investigations, which were still ongoing when
the plaintiff filed this action.
4