MONROVIA, Liberia — Liberia Revenue Authority (LRA) Commissioner General James Dorbor Jallah has called for stronger inter-agency and cross-border cooperation to combat illicit financial flows, trace suspicious transactions, and support efforts to recover assets allegedly taken illegally from Liberia and other African countries.
Commissioner General Jallah made the call on Tuesday, October 6, 2026, during the opening of the LACC–African Union Advisory Board Against Corruption Regional Training on Asset Recovery and Illicit Financial Flows, held at the Cape Hotel in Monrovia.
The regional training is being conducted under the theme, “Implementing CAPAR and Curbing Illicit Financial Flows: Following the Money, Finding the Owner.”
Jallah said the LRA is committed to strengthening information-sharing, intelligence gathering, and institutional cooperation to help authorities detect complex financial transactions and identify the individuals and entities behind illicit financial activities.
He said the LRA will deepen collaboration with the Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission (LACC), Financial Intelligence Agency (FIA), Ministry of Justice, and other relevant institutions, where legally authorized and subject to taxpayer confidentiality requirements.
“At the Liberia Revenue Authority, we see the money when it first shows its face: at the port, at the border, on the tax return,” Jallah said. “We see the invoice that does not match the cargo. We see the company that declares a loss every year and still keeps expanding.”
According to the LRA Commissioner General, revenue information, intelligence, and coordinated investigations are critical to addressing illicit financial activities that deprive African countries of resources needed to finance development and provide essential public services.
“Africa is not poor. Africa is being drained,” Jallah declared.
He cited the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) 2020 Economic Development in Africa Report, which estimated that the continent loses approximately US$88.6 billion annually through illicit financial flows.
Jallah said the problem extends beyond lost government revenue, arguing that illicit financial flows undermine economic fairness by allowing sophisticated corporate structures to conceal ownership and shift profits across borders while ordinary taxpayers continue to meet their obligations.
He stressed that identifying the ultimate beneficial owners behind complex corporate and financial arrangements is essential to combating illicit financial flows and strengthening domestic resource mobilization.
The LRA chief also called for faster and deeper cooperation among African countries, noting that illicit funds can move rapidly between jurisdictions while investigators often face lengthy procedures when seeking information needed to trace and recover assets.
He described the Common African Position on Asset Recovery (CAPAR) as an important continental framework for tracing, freezing, recovering, and returning illicitly acquired assets.
Jallah further urged stronger coordination among Liberia’s integrity, security, law enforcement, and revenue institutions, including the LACC, FIA, Ministry of Justice, Liberia National Police, Liberia Drug Enforcement Agency, National Security Agency, National Lottery Authority, and the LRA.
He linked the fight against illicit financial flows and asset recovery to Liberia and Africa’s broader pursuit of economic self-reliance, arguing that protecting domestic resources and recovering stolen assets could strengthen government fiscal capacity and reduce reliance on borrowing.
“Every dollar recovered strengthens our fiscal space and reduces the pressure to finance development through borrowing. It is a nurse in Kakata. It is a classroom in Zwedru. It is a road to a market,” he said.
Jallah said Liberia’s longstanding advocacy for African unity and self-reliance remains relevant to the continent’s current efforts to prevent the loss of financial resources through illicit channels.
“In 2026, self-reliance means one thing above all: keeping Africa’s money in Africa and bringing home what was stolen,” he said.
The Commissioner General challenged participants at the training to strengthen their skills in investigating complex financial transactions, identifying beneficial owners, handling digital evidence, and tracing and recovering illicit assets.
He said the knowledge gained from the regional training should be translated into stronger investigations, improved institutional cooperation, and more effective asset recovery efforts across Liberia and the African continent.
The training is expected to build participants’ capacity in financial investigations, asset tracing and recovery, beneficial ownership identification, digital evidence, and other areas critical to combating illicit financial flows and financial crimes.