By Wroinbee Elton Tiah
Grand Bassa, Liberia – A major scandal has rocked the National Social Security and Welfare Corporation (NASSCORP), as Gbeh Salinto Montgomery, the Regional Director for Grand Bassa and Rivercess, has been dismissed over serious allegations of corruption involving the pension funds of Equatorial Palm Oil (EPO) workers.
Montgomery is accused of being at the center of a massive pension fraud scheme, in which over US$50,000 in worker contributions mysteriously disappeared between 2021 and 2024.
𝑮𝒐𝒔𝒉𝒖𝒂 𝑩𝒍𝒐𝒘𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑾𝒉𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒍𝒆:
The investigation was triggered after Representative Thomas Alexander Goshua of Grand Bassa District #5 raised the alarm, accusing EPO of illegally deducting NASSCORP contributions from employees and failing to remit the funds.
“Many of those workers aren’t even listed in the NASSCORP system,” Goshua said in a sharp rebuke. “Yet the company has been deducting money. This is criminal and I’ve told the Ministry of Labor I’m not taking it lightly.”
Goshua’s pressure led to a Ministry of Labor probe, which confirmed widespread irregularities and missing funds.
𝑭𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝑹𝒆𝒄𝒆𝒊𝒑𝒕𝒔, 𝑹𝒆𝒂𝒍 𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒇𝒕:
Community-based advocate Gardea Fredrick Gunnue also confirmed that NASSCORP has now agreed to reimburse affected workers, based on receipts submitted by EPO employee representative Morris Biah.
“Our fight has paid off,” Gunnue wrote. “The deductions were real but the money never made it to NASSCORP. Fake receipts were being issued by Gbeh Salinto Montgomery himself.”
He further alleged that Biah and other collaborators were criminally deducting funds and pocketing the cash, all while giving workers fraudulent proof of payment.
𝑪𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒔 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝑨𝒓𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒕:
With Montgomery removed from his post, citizens are now demanding his immediate arrest and prosecution, describing the fraud as an “insult to the working poor.”
Repeated attempts to contact Montgomery for comment were unsuccessful. He did not answer calls or respond to text messages.
As the dust settles, one thing is clear: what began as quiet deductions from poor workers’ salaries has now exploded into one of the biggest labor scandals in recent NASSCORP history.
