Delaware, USA – A tangled web of immigration fraud, bigamy, and abandonment of a child is unraveling around Liberia’s House Speaker, Richard Nagbe Koon, following explosive public accusations from his estranged wife and a damning official U.S. government denial obtained by this publication.
In a series of incendiary media appearances, Speaker Koon’s estranged wife, Cecelia Kpor Koon, has laid bare a scheme she claims was orchestrated by the Speaker solely to secure U.S. citizenship—a scheme ultimately rejected by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). Appearing on the Spoon Talk Show, Mrs. Koon detailed a narrative of calculated deception. She revealed she was legally married to Koon in the U.S. Shortly after obtaining his conditional U.S. permanent resident status (Green Card) through her, she alleges he changed his address and began an extramarital affair.
The plot thickened, according to Mrs. Koon, when Koon attempted his citizenship test without her and was denied. Subsequently, he allegedly entered into a second marriage in the U.S. without divorcing her, and filed anew for citizenship. This move backfired catastrophically, leading to the termination of his legal U.S. resident status.
Her allegations are corroborated by an official USCIS denial letter dated in response to a 2021 petition. The letter states that the submitted evidence was not sufficient in establishing that the marriage between the first Petitioner and the Beneficiary was bona fide at its inception, therefore, the Form I-751 was referred for an in-person interview. While the Form 1-751 was pending, the Beneficiary and the first Petitioner allegedly divorced to Monrovia, Liberia on April 7, 2021. This divorce was not reported to USCIS, and on June 3, 2021, the first Petitioner and the Beneficiary were scheduled for an interview at the USCIS Lawrence Field Office regarding their joint Form 1-751. On June 3, 2021, the Beneficiary appeared for the interview, but the first Petitioner did not. The Beneficiary did not inform USCIS of his divorce and testified that the first Petitioner was on her way, but the first Petitioner never appeared. Therefore, on June 7, 2021, the Beneficiary’s Form 1-751 was denied, terminating his conditional resident status. Madam Koon clarified that although she has filed for divorce, Speaker Koon is refusing to grant it. She further alleges that he has illegally seized her properties in Liberia and is commercializing them without sharing any of the proceeds with her.
The scandal deepens with allegations of personal misconduct. During the same broadcast, a Liberian woman residing in the U.S . named Valmon Walker phoned in, accusing Speaker Koon of fathering her child in 2014 and then engaging in a decade-long evasion of child support. She claimed Koon promised a dedicated bank account with a $10 monthly deposit—a promise she says remains unfulfilled for over ten years, leaving the child without sustained support. Ms. Walker who claims her romantic relationship with Koon began when she was in the 9th grade in Liberia, has also vowed to refile her child support case against the Speaker.
Further destabilizing Koon’s narrative, a woman named Doris Irede identifying as Koon’s biological sister from his mother’s side, called from Nigeria. She dropped a bombshell: she claimed Cecelia Kpor Koon is actually Koon’s biological sister from his father’s side, alleging the marriage was purely a transactional fraud for immigration with “no romantic relationship.” Cecelia Koon has vehemently denied this familial claim.
The spokesperson for Speaker Richard Koon, V Vehzelee Sumo confirmed that Speaker Koon married his biological sister Cecelia Kpor Koon to acquire U.S. Green Card. Vehzelee posted on his Facebook page “On the Spoon Talk, she lied that she filed in for Richard Koon to go to the US since they were in a sexual relationship. This is false! Richard Koon traveled to the US on a World Bank faculty exchange program between the University of Liberia and the University of Michigan. Because of the nature of the program, Richard Koon was allowed to carry his fiancee, Gifty Feika. They were both stopping at his sister Cecelia’s residence. While there, she demanded that they pay rental fees for her apartment – which Richard Koon did, in the tone of $1200 monthly. It was while on this program that Cecelia suggested to her brother Richard that she could use her status as a military personnel to file for his citizenship if he could agree to purport as her husband in exchange for something.
What was it? Cecelia demanded an upfront payment of US$35,000, and part of the Richard Koon estate in Virginia, Liberia. In addition, she would also file for his children to go to the US. Needing status, Richard Koon agreed. Cecelia got the paperwork done without getting Richard Koon involved in a single part of the process. She brought him marriage documents with his signature forged on them and told him that he would be granted the temporary two-year green card holder status. In partial fulfilment of his side of the bargain, Richard Koon gave Cecelia US$10,000 and placed a portion of the estate under her supervision so that she could be collecting the rental fees.She also attempted sending for his kids but none of those processes materialized.” Vehzelee Sumo concluded.
In Liberia, Speaker Koon’s personal life appears in parallel disarray. He is currently facing divorce proceedings from another woman claiming legitimacy as his spouse. Despite these cascading personal and legal crises, Koon has been publicly parading with a fourth woman, McDalla Cooper, who has openly referred to him as her spouse. The accumulating evidence paints a picture of a high-ranking official engaging in a deliberate pattern of immigration fraud, beginning with a sham marriage, followed by bigamy, direct misrepresentation to U.S. federal authorities, and the abandonment of a child. The subsequent loss of his U.S. immigration status stands as a formal legal rebuke of his actions.
Speaker Richard Nagbe Koon now faces not only severe damage to his international reputation but also mounting legal and ethical questions at home regarding his fitness for Liberia’s third-highest office. Calls for an official investigation are expected to mount in the coming days.