Booming Green Logging Company Refutes Trafficking Allegation

The Booming Green Logging Company in Big Joe Town, Grand Bassa County has denied allegations linking the company to alleged human trafficking, money laundering, and corruption as well as using females of the company as sex slaves.
Recently, in the Daily Observer, Friday, February 28, 2020, the paper alleged that the Booming Green Logging Company compound was raided by some investigators of the Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission (LACC) on Thursday, February 27, 2020, where they managed to rescue seven Chinese and Malaysian nationals, including two females believed to have been trafficked into the country.
The article added that those trafficked includes; Lucilito Madelo To Lop, Xiaoyang Chen, Ruby Tan Ann Cavil (female), Mina Pale (female), Faisal Jehil and Asry Antoniue among others and are currently being held at the Fair Ground Police Station in Buchanan, where they explained circumstances leading to their being trafficked by an executive of the company, as the two females are constantly used as sex slaves.
Refuting the allegations in an interview at his office in Monrovia, the Deputy Operation Manager of the company, Yong Heng Liu described the allegation as false and misleading and only intended to undermine and tarnish the good image his company has earned over the years, adding that it is unfortunate for the paper with integrity to publish a story without contacting them for clarity.
According to Yong, though his boss man Jerry Wang is not in the country to respond but instructed him to inform the general public that his company had been operating in several countries for the past 15 years before coming to Liberia in 2017, and had not been accused of such allegations.
The company’s deputy retorted that his company is duly registered and in good standing and in compliance with the laws of Liberia, adding that said allegations are grossly against their company’s policies and guidelines protecting the company.
Mr. Liu also refuted that the allegations by the paper of a senior Immigration officer being the one to always reviewed the passport of the seven alleged trafficked personnel and are given resident permits on behalf of his boss Jerry Wang is a total “fallacy” and has no iota of truth.
He added, “I want to make this categorically clear that at no point in time did any of our female workers ever been used as sex slaves by executives of the company, and that my boss, Jerry Wang have illegally established a relationship with a man named Geoffrey Kollie, Unit 112 of the Liberia National Police (LNP) for the sole purpose of providing protection to the company as stated in the Daily Observer article.”
“As we speak, the listed individuals that the paper says were allegedly trafficked by our company are currently in good health and are currently in the compound of the company living there and doing their job,” MR. Liu averred.
In order to authenticate the information, the Booming Green Logging Company’s deputy along with several journalists who visited his company site over the weekend managed to speak to the alleged trafficked foreign nationals and the Fair Ground Police Station Commander, Sackor Freeman.
Speaking to journalists on behalf of the alleged trafficked persons, Asry Antoniue said that he was shocked when some men wearing plain clothes aggressively entered the company’s compound ground saying that they got information of them being trafficked something he said was quite unfortunate.
According to him, they were later taken to a depot where they spent an hour plus for questioning and later released to return to work, adding that they had no idea of what said individuals were saying of them been trafficked.
Antoniue added that at no point in time did any of them were ever trafficked into Liberia, that has been speculated in the Daily Observer News Paper. He said that they have been living comfortably in the country since their arrival.
He alluded, “If we were trafficked as the paper claimed; then why are we still working with the same company that they said trafficked us and not under the protection of the Liberia government through the police? As I said previously, we are happily working and being treated well, as we were not trafficked into Liberia.”
When contacted, the Grand Bassa County Commander, Sackor Freeman said at no point in time did his office or the depot ever received any case of such, emphasizing that if the LACC believe that the issue of human trafficking is their job, they should be the one to respond to the allegation.
He added, “If we have any case of that nature, said individuals would have been with us by now and not the same company being accused of the crime, as we don’t know about anything and that we have not arrested or questioned anybody for the allegation that has to do with human trafficking.”
The LACC is yet to respond to the allegation as they promised to call during the day but didn’t until the paper went to bed.
Meanwhile, the company has threatened to take legal actions against the newspaper that wrote said untrue and unfortunate story against the company only to tarnish the image of the company without any reason. If the institution does not revoke their story by apologizing to the company through publication in several daily outlets for one week, then the company will undoubtedly take action.