S/Court Orders Immediate Execution of US$350K Judgment Against Ecobank | Legal

The Full Bench of the Honorable Supreme Court of Liberia has ordered the immediate execution of a multi-million dollar defamation judgment against Ecobank Liberia Limited and two co-defendants, ending a two-year legal battle linked to the 2022 National Population and Housing Census scandal.

In a peremptory Writ of Mandate dated September 1, 2026, the High Court commanded the Civil Law Court to enforce its August 27, 2026 Opinion and Judgment in favor of former Deputy Director General for Information Coordination at the Liberia Institute of Statistics and Geo-Information Services [LISGIS], Mr. Wilmot Smith.

The Mandate was initially addressed to Her Honor Golda A. Bonah Elliott, Assigned Circuit Judge of the Sixth Judicial Circuit, Civil Law Court Annex, Montserrado County. Due to congestion on Judge Elliott’s docket, the enforcement has now been transferred to His Honor Judge Nelson Chinneh of Civil Law Court ‘A’ for execution.

Issued UNDER HAND AND SEAL OF THE HONORABLE SUPREME COURT and signed by Cllr. Sam Mamund, Clerk of the Supreme Court, the Mandate states in part:

“In keeping with instructions of the Honorable Supreme Court of the Republic of Liberia, I have the honor to transmit the accompanying certified copy of the Opinion and Judgment handed down by the Honorable Supreme Court on the 27th Day of August A. D. 2026… You are hereby commanded to comply with the foregoing Judgment immediately and file your RETURNS to this Mandate as to how it was executed.”

The case is captioned: IN RE: Mr. Wilmot Smith, former Deputy Director General for Information Coordination at the Liberia Institute of Statistics and Geo-Information Services… APPELLANT / ACTION OF DAMAGES FOR WRONG BY ATTACHMENT VERSUS The Management of Eco-Bank Liberia Limited, Martin K. N. Kollie and Yussif S. Kromah, APPELLEES.

The enforcement order is the culmination of a tort action filed by Smith, who sued for US$700,000 — US$500,000 in general damages and US$200,000 in punitive damages — over allegations that he diverted census funds.

In its unanimous August 27 Opinion, the Full Bench reversed a February 2025 jury verdict before Judge Scheaplor R. Dunbar which had exonerated Ecobank and the co-defendants.

The Supreme Court established three key findings of fact:

a. The Transaction Was Lawful: Smith was a lawful and authorized signatory to the LISGIS NPHC Project Account held at Ecobank Liberia Limited. The US$60,000 transfer he authorized to a correspondent bank in Côte d’Ivoire was for the legitimate procurement of census tablets.

b.  The Leak Was a Banking Breach: The confidential transaction statement was illicitly accessed and leaked from inside Ecobank by Co-defendant Yussif S. Kromah, then Reconciliation Officer in the Bank’s Card Operations Department. Kromah released the LISGIS statements to Alex M. Williams, who was neither a signatory nor an authorized representative of the account, who then transmitted it to anti-corruption activist Martin K. N. Kollie, alias ‘Rescue Rambo’.

c.  The Publication Was Libel Per Se: The documents were broadcast on Spoon TV and other platforms as proof that Smith had diverted over US$1.2 million, later inflated on-air to US$1.7 million, intended for census enumerators. Smith’s lawyers described it as a “trial by Facebook Live.”

Based on those findings, the Supreme Court awarded:

US$250,000 in special damages against Ecobank Liberia Limited

US$50,000 in general damages against Martin K. N. Kollie

US$50,000 in general damages against Yussif S. Kromah

Totaling US$350,000 plus 6% legal interest per annum from the date of judgment until full and final payment.

In a crucial procedural twist, the Mandate of September 1 orders execution of only US$350,000 — the portion against Ecobank, Kollie and Kromah. Legal sources confirm Alex M. Williams was excluded because the Civil Law Court had previously granted him a separate trial before the appeal was perfected. Williams’ liability therefore remains pending before Judge Elliott, while the Mandate now compels immediate execution of the balance.

The 27-page Opinion, which also rejected Ecobank’s earlier petition to halt proceedings — a petition previously denied by Chambers Justice Yarmie Quiqui Gbeisay in January 2025 — sets sweeping precedent.

a.  Death of the “Frolic” Defense — Strict Vicarious Liability

Ecobank argued Kromah acted on “his own frolic,” outside the scope of employment, and had since been dismissed. The Supreme Court flatly rejected the defense, reaffirming black-letter law:

“Under the principle of vicarious liability and/or respondeat superior an employer can be held liable for an act of an employee even if not authorized.”

The Justices held that because Kromah had lawful access to the core banking system by virtue of his employment, his act was committed under the cloak of the bank’s authority. Dismissal, the Court ruled, does not retroactively extinguish civil liability.

b. Gross Negligence in Data Governance

The Court found Ecobank in breach of its fiduciary duty of confidentiality under Central Bank of Liberia [CBL] Regulations, citing “gross negligence in data governance.”

“The bank owes its customers a duty of confidentiality and a duty to safeguard their personal and financial information…”

Releasing government project account statements to a non-signatory without a court order, subpoena, or customer consent was held to be a fundamental breach. The Court dismissed Ecobank’s argument that the accounts belonged to LISGIS/GOL and not Smith personally, holding that an authorized signatory is owed confidentiality over his own lawful transactions.

c. Libel Per Se and the Limits of Activism

The Court held that accusing a public official of stealing US$1.7 million in public funds is libel per se — so inherently injurious that damage is presumed without proof of special harm. The Court found Kollie and Williams “republished the leaked statement with malice, transforming a legitimate public-interest question into a libelous campaign” intended to harm and humiliate Smith.

What Execution Means

This Mandate is the final enforcement mechanism in Liberian appellate procedure. Under Chapter 14 of the Civil Procedure Law, after Opinion and Judgment, the Supreme Court remands with a Mandate.

Judge Chinneh is now commanded to issue a Writ of Execution, order the attachment of Ecobank’s assets and bank accounts at the CBL if necessary, compel payment, and file a formal Return — a sworn report to the Supreme Court detailing how the judgment was executed. Failure to execute constitutes contempt of the Supreme Court.

Politically, the ruling legally decouples Smith’s civil vindication from the still-pending criminal indictment by the Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission (LACC) over census funds. A civil defamation win does not quash a criminal charge, but it destroys the evidentiary foundation of the public narrative.

For Martin Kollie, one of Liberia’s most followed diaspora activists whose model is built on leaks, the ruling is a legal earthquake. It is the first time a Liberian court has imposed personal pecuniary liability on the publisher of leaked banking data, drawing a bright line: freedom of the press does not include a license to launder a banking crime.

For the banking sector — all nine commercial banks regulated by the CBL — the precedent imposes strict institutional liability for data leaks by even low-level staff. Legal analysts say it will mandate an immediate overhaul of internal controls, access logs, and Chinese walls around Politically Exposed Persons and government project accounts.[PEPs]

With the Mandate now in the hands of Judge Chinneh, Ecobank Liberia, Yussif Kromah and Martin Kollie have no further appeal to any court in Liberia. The only question left is execution — and how quickly the US$350,000 plus 6% interest will be liquidated.