Monrovia – The Supreme Court docket of Liberia has suspended Counselor Samuel Pearson from working towards legislation for a interval of six months over allegations of unethical conduct associated to the administration of his late mom’s property.
By Victoria G. Wesseh
The court docket additionally ordered Cllr. Pearson to restitute the sum of US$93,369 and L$6,235,353.41, funds he allegedly withdrew utilizing a purported Letters of Administration from the United Financial institution for Africa (UBA) and the Liberia Financial institution for Improvement and Funding (LBDI). These accounts belonged to his deceased mom, Madam Mamie Hayford Pearson, and had been a part of her intestate property. On June 23, 2022, he additional instructed the banks to shut the accounts.
The choice by the Supreme Court docket follows findings by the Grievance and Ethics Committee (GEC), which held Cllr. Pearson responsible for violating moral requirements of authorized follow.
Background of the Grievance
The grievance originated from Mr. Ballah Yargbo, the one organic son of Madam Mamie Hayford Pearson. He alleged that following his mom’s dying, her property—which included actual and private property in addition to vital financial savings—was mismanaged by J. Henric Pearson, the surviving partner, in collaboration with Cllr. Samuel Pearson, who can also be his nephew.
In line with Mr. Yargbo, he turned suspicious concerning the dealing with of his mom’s property after acquiring his personal Letters of Administration from the Month-to-month and Probate Court docket for Montserrado County on Might 23, 2023. This led him to find that Cllr. Pearson had beforehand acquired Letters of Administration on Might 9, 2022, with out his data or consent, and had already begun administering the property.
Mr. Yargbo claimed that Cllr. Pearson used the doc to withdraw US$45,000 from his mom’s UBA account earlier than closing it. He additionally alleged that on July 27, 2022, Cllr. Pearson persuaded each him and his stepfather to signal a Restricted Energy of Legal professional, authorizing him to entry funds from his mom’s LBDI accounts.
Utilizing this authority, Cllr. Pearson allegedly withdrew a further US$48,369.25, L$849,519.91, and L$5,385,833.50, bringing the overall withdrawals to US$93,369 and L$6,235,353.41.
Mr. Yargbo contended that of those funds, he solely obtained US$10,000 and L$1.5 million, which Cllr. Pearson claimed had been licensed by his stepfather. Nevertheless, this disclosure was solely made after Mr. Yargbo had obtained formal administrative rights over his mom’s property.
Supreme Court docket’s Ruling
In its ruling, the Supreme Court docket emphasised the responsibility of legal professionals to uphold integrity and transparency in issues involving the administration of estates and consumer belief. The Court docket discovered that Cllr. Pearson acted with out correct authority and failed to supply full disclosure to the rightful inheritor of the property.
The Court docket mandated that Cllr. Pearson should repay the misappropriated funds as a part of the disciplinary motion, and barred him from working towards legislation for six months efficient instantly.
