Varney Sherman

Sherman is alleged to have offered bribes to multiple judges associated with his trial for a 2010 bribery scheme and is suspected of having an undisclosed conflict of interest with the judge who ultimately returned a not guilty verdict in July 2019. Sherman has allegedly routinely paid judges to decide cases in his favor, and has allegedly facilitated payments to Liberian politicians to support the impeachment of a judge who has ruled against him.

In the 2010 scheme that led to this trial, Sherman was suspected of having been hired by a British mining company in an effort to obtain one of Liberia’s last remaining mining assets, the Wologizi iron ore concession. Sherman supposedly advised the company that, in order to obtain the contract, they first had to get Liberia’s procurement and concessions law changed by bribing senior officials. In 2016, Sherman was indicted by the Liberian government, along with several other government officials, for their involvement in the USD 950,000 bribery scheme. In 2019, the presiding judge acquitted all individuals accused of being involved in the bribery scheme. [1]

Information

IDENTIFYING INFORMATIONLawyer, Liberian senator, and Chair of the Liberian Senate Judiciary Committee
DATE OF BIRTH16.02.1953
PLACE OF BIRTHLiberia
NATIONALITYLiberia
COUNTRY OF RESIDENCELiberia
FULL NAMEHarry Varney Gboto-Nambi Sherman
FIRST AND MIDDLE NAME(S)Harry Varney Gboto-Nambi
ALIASESNone
FAMILY MEMBERSJoyce Sherman - wife
FAMILY MEMBERS SUBJECT TO SANCTIONSNone
SUSPECTED OR CONFIRMED LINKS TO LEGAL ENTITIESSable Mining Company; Sherman and Sherman, Inc. (his law firm). [1]
ESTIMATES OF ASSETS FROZEN OR CONFISCATEDUnknown
ESTIMATES OF ASSETS RETURNEDNone
SANCTIONS REGIMESUS Global Magnitsky Sanctions. [1]
START OF SANCTIONS09.12.2020 [1]