May 28, 2014 VIA AND FEDERAL EXPRESS

Transcription

1 The Executive Building th Street, N.W., Suite 380 East Washington, DC Tel Fax STEVEN M. SCHNEEBAUM Direct Dial: Address: May 28, 2014 VIA AND FEDERAL EXPRESS Paula Frederick, Esq. General Counsel State Bar of Georgia 104 Marietta St., NW, Suite 100 Atlanta, GA Re: Grievance against Melvin Johnson, A Member of the State Bar of Georgia Dear Ms. Frederick: Pursuant to applicable procedures of the Georgia State Bar Governance Rules, the undersigned, acting as counsel for the Liberia Airport Authority ( the LAA ) and the Republic of Liberia ( Liberia ), hereby submits the following grievance against Melvin Johnson, Esq., a Member of the State Bar of Georgia. It is our understanding that Mr. Johnson was, until his recent removal from the post, Chief Municipal Court Judge for the City of Lithonia, Georgia. My clients allege that in his dealings with the LAA and Liberia, Mr. Johnson violated the Georgia Rules of Professional Conduct (in particular Rules 8.4(a)(4), against professional conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit, or misrepresentation, and 4.1, requiring truthfulness in statements to persons other than clients), through engagement in acts both illegal and reflecting moral turpitude. A brief statement of the nature of the grievance follows, and the Exhibits referenced in this narrative are attached. The Bar should be aware at the outset that, as a result of the actions recounted below, a Special Grand Jury for Montserrado County, Liberia, returned an indictment against Mr. Johnson on July 30, 2013, charging him with the crimes of economic sabotage, misapplication of

2 Page 2 entrusted property, theft of property, and criminal conspiracy, all within applicable statutory law of the Republic of Liberia. An extradition request seeking his return to Liberia to stand trial on those charges was filed in September, 2013, and is currently pending before the United States Department of Justice. I. Mr. Johnson s activities in Liberia Melvin Johnson, who appears to have been born in Liberia but to have emigrated to the United States and acquired U.S. citizenship, arrived in the country in 2012 as the companion (and social and/or romantic partner) of one Ellen Corkrum. Ms. Corkrum, also an American citizen of Liberian birth, was appointed Managing Director of the Liberia Airport Authority as of October 1, Mr. Johnson apparently has family in the country, and had made several visits to Liberia before. During the time that Ms. Corkrum was Managing Director of the LAA, she shared her living accommodations at Roberts International Airport (RIA) with Mr. Johnson, and they were frequently in each other s company. It is the Government s contention that Ms. Corkrum misused her position for her own personal pecuniary gain and that of others, and she was indicted by the same Special Grand Jury that returned a true bill against Mr. Johnson. She is accused of having diverted a significant contract for runway renovation at Liberia s international airport to a shell company, of misusing public funds intended for the purchase of computer hardware and peripherals, and of conspiring with Mr. Johnson to steer funds intended to pay for airport security to him without any expectation that he or his company would be qualified, able, or willing to perform the work. Mr. Johnson and Ms. Corkrum departed from Liberia having been informed that their conduct described in the indictment was under investigation in mid-february, Mr. Johnson filed an application for admission to the Bar of the Republic of Liberia, but his application was never passed upon by the Board of Examiners. According to documents that Mr. Johnson himself compiled in response to the indictment, however, it appears that he did hold himself out as a lawyer in Liberia, and was paid for providing legal services, inter alia opining on and interpreting Liberian legal documents, although he was never admitted to practice law in that country. Moreover, Mr. Johnson seems to have participated in all phases of Ms. Corkrum s felonious scheme to convert public funds, and in her political counter-attack once her stratagem was uncovered. II. The indicted offenses The facts as set out in Count Two of the indictment see Exhibit A hereto and the documents tendered to the Grand Jury in support show that funds supposedly intended to be used

3 Page 3 for review and upgrade of security at RIA were remitted to the IOLTA account of Mr. Johnson s law firm, Melvin Johnson and Associates, Inc. 1 Why and how that arrangement was made is unknown to us, since there is no reason to believe that Mr. Johnson had any role to play in providing security services to the LAA. 2 On or about November 3, 2012, Ms. Corkrum and Mr. Johnson arranged to have the LAA s bank in Liberia First International Bank transfer to Mr. Johnson s IOLTA account the sum of $56,750, supposedly representing payment for a security audit contract that neither Mr. Johnson nor his company had ever been awarded. There is no evidence that Mr. Johnson or any enterprise with which he is or has been associated is in the business of providing or reviewing security systems. Yet the voucher for the funds transfer stated that it was for LAA security systems and operation and [remainder illegible]. See Exhibit B. Moreover, the transfer from the bank in Monrovia was procured by Ms. Corkrum and Mr. Johnson illegally, without the requisite written authorization of members of the Board of Directors of the LAA. The minutes of a meeting of the Board of Directors of the LAA on October 23, 2012, approved the proposal of the [Managing Director, i.e., Ms. Corkrum] for a lawyer. Exhibit C. But this did not constitute permission to hire Mr. Johnson in any capacity, and he was not thereafter entitled to disbursement of LAA funds, for at least three reasons. First, it would make no sense for the LAA a Government-controlled entity operating in Liberia under a statutory mandate to retain a lawyer not licensed to practice law in that country, and it did not in fact do so. 3 Second, there is no evidence that Ms. Corkrum or anyone else purporting to act on behalf of the LAA followed proper procedures to record the fact that Mr. Johnson s legal services had been engaged: no legal services agreement was ever presented to or approved by the Board. And 1 This entity appears to be the law firm owned and controlled by Mr. Johnson and operating in Stone Mountain, Georgia. To the best of our knowledge, no member of the firm is a Member of the Bar of the Republic of Liberia. The firm was also indicted by the Special Grand Jury for Monserrado County. See Exhibit A. 2 IOLTA accounts are normally held by law firms to segregate interest earned by client funds in their temporary custody. There is no evidence known to us to suggest that any security contractor was a client of Mr. Johnson or his law firm, and of course if it were, that would implicate a direct conflict of interest, given that Mr. Johnson also claims to have represented the LAA. 3 Just as in the State of Georgia, it is illegal in Liberia to hold oneself out as a lawyer without being a Member of the Bar. See Code of Liberia, 17.1 (Exhibit D).

4 Page 4 finally, the payment at issue was by its own terms not for legal services at all, but for something to do with airport security, a field in which neither Mr. Johnson nor Melvin Johnson & Associates, Inc., has the slightest degree of expertise or experience. In the view of the LAA, and according to the indictment, the transfer of funds to Mr. Johnson was part of a scheme to defraud the Government, which was concocted and carried out jointly by Ms. Corkrum and Mr. Johnson. The Government of Liberia is confident that it can prove the guilt of the defendants at trial beyond a reasonable doubt. III. Other criminal conduct Mr. Johnson s illegal acts in Liberia, unfortunately, were not limited to the conduct charged in the indictment. Apparently in an effort to forestall or block a criminal investigation, he and Ms. Corkrum began to arrange meetings with Government ministers and other high officials of the Republic of Liberia. The purposes of these meetings apparently were to enlist support for Ms. Corkrum in preemptively defeating any criminal charges, and eliciting embarrassing or compromising statements from Government figures that could then be used to discredit them. Ms. Corkrum carried with her a hidden tape-recording device, the presence of which she did not disclose to her interlocutors, and made an audiotape of each of her meetings. Mr. Johnson was in attendance with her, and colluded with her in carrying out this campaign of intimidation intending, perhaps, to lead to either financial or political blackmail. Ms. Corkrum and Mr. Johnson have released several of the tapes for broadcast by mass media operating in Liberia. Some in the press have speculated that they are part of a political agenda of the couple, portraying themselves as whistleblowers and white knight characters perhaps available to offer themselves as candidates for political office. Mr. Johnson s voice may be heard on some if not all of the recordings. There is no question that he was physically present, and that he participated in the illicit taping. Both Ms. Corkrum and Mr. Johnson have appeared on live radio talk shows broadcast in Liberia, in which he has held himself out as an adviser to Ms. Corkrum in all aspects of this illegal operation. In Liberia, as in many States in the United States (including Georgia), it is a criminal act to record a conversation with another person without his or her consent. The relevant statutory law in Liberia is Chapter 19 of the Criminal Code ( offenses against the right of privacy ), sections 19.1(c), 19.2(b), and 19.2(c). Exhibit E. Divulging the contents of an illegally-recorded conversation to others is a separate offense, of which both Ms. Corkrum and Mr. Johnson are likely guilty as well.

5 Page 5 IV. Violations of the Rules of Professional Conduct In the respectful submission of the undersigned and his clients, Mr. Johnson s conduct reported here violated at least the following Rules of Professional Conduct applicable to lawyers in Georgia and in most of the United States: Rules 8.4(a)(4), against professional conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit, or misrepresentation, and 4.1, requiring truthfulness in statements to persons other than clients. For these reasons, we ask that the State Bar of Georgia initiate disciplinary proceedings against Melvin Johnson, Esq., in accordance with its Rules. The undersigned and his clients stand ready to provide whatever additional information or documentation may be required in order to facilitate the grievance, investigation, and adjudication processes. Yours sincerely, Steven M. Schneebaum Counsel, The Republic of Liberia and The Liberia Airport Authority cc: Jeff Davis, Esq., Director Georgia Judicial Qualifications Commission