Sierra Leone Ambassador arrested in Panama

Scandal-rocked Sierra Leonean-born Canadian-based medical doctor, businessman and Goodwill Ambassador has been arrested in Panama and awaits extradition to Canada to face multiple criminal charges. Until his arrest, Dr. Arthur Porter ran a cancer clinic in Bahamas and made regular trips to his native Sierra Leone, where, he said, he had direct access to political leaders including its president, Ernest Bai Koroma. Dr. Porter recently told the National Post in Montreal, Canada that although he had close links with President Koroma, he was merely a “goodwill ambassador” for the country, even if aiding the president as an ambassador. The newspaper reported that Dr. Porter, who was chair of Canada’s spy review board, recently resigned amid revelations of his business dealings with a notorious international lobbyist and his own close ties to President Koroma. He was recently conferred with an extraordinary title: “His Excellency, Ambassador Plenipotentiary, Republic of Sierra Leone,” by President Ernest Bai Koroma. Other media reports have also said that Dr. Porter has used the designation in written correspondences with his title appearing on personal letterhead under the Sierra Leonean coat of arms. A health care executive once appointed by Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper to oversee the national spy agency, Porter was declared wanted after Quebec’s anti-corruption squad issued arrest warrants for him and four other men embroiled in allegations of fraud swirling around the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC), Montreal’s English-language hospital network. He was MUHC's head and the chief negotiator on the $1.3billion contract granted to SNC-Lavalin in 2010 to build a massive new hospital for the network. Dr. Porter oversaw and managed the MUHC for seven years. In June 2010, he signed a consultancy agreement prepared by. Ben-Menashe and his privately owned, Montreal-based company, Dickens & Madson (Canada) Inc. Dr. Porter signed on behalf of his own company, Africa Infrastructure Group (AIG), which is one of numerous private “entities” he says he maintains in his native Sierra Leone and in other countries. The contract obliged Ben-Menashe to secure a US$ 120-million grant from Russia “for infrastructure development in Sierra Leone managed by the Africa Infrastructure Group.” Dickens & Madson also agreed to “use our best efforts to secure an opportunity for Sierra Leone to be considered as a site for the development of new port facilities for the use of the Russian Federation for non-military purposes.” With his signature, Dr. Porter promised to notify Sierra Leonean President Ernest Koroma of the arrangement and to obtain his consent. He also agreed to wire a $200,000 payment to Dickens & Madson for its services as intermediary. Dr. Porter made the payment from an account he holds in Florida to Ben-Menashe.