Planning and Training of the Liberia Electricity Corporation Training Center under the Presidency of the late President Samuel K. Doe. He worked at the corporation until the war broke out. In 1990, when the Liberian Civil War broke out, Urey left Liberia and traveled to Sierra Leone and lived there for eight months and later moved to Ivory Coast. While there, he started to work at African Development Bank as a consultant. In 1994, Urey returned to Bong County, Liberia and started to work as the Managing Director at Liberia Rubber Development Corporation. Political career Under the Interim Government of Liberia, chaired by Wilton Sankawulo, in 1995, Urey was appointed President of Agricultural Cooperative Development Bank of Liberia. In 1996, the Council of State appointed Urey as Commissioner of Maritime Affairs. When Charles Taylor came to power after winning elections in 1997, Urey was reappointed to his position as Commissioner of Maritime. He served as Commissioner until 2003, when Taylor resigned from office. In 2000, Urey was sanctioned by the United Nations for his alleged role in arms procurement (starting in summer of 2002) and also for his alleged “ongoing ties with Charles Taylor”. Urey breached an earlier UN travel ban in August 2001. His name was added to the US Treasury Department's Specially Designated Nationals list, prohibiting him from conducting business with US companies, citizens and residents, and blocking all US based assets. A 2005 report from the Coalition for International Justice reported that Urey helped Taylor "siphon off" funds from a shipping firm to pay for arms and was the primary contact between Taylor and Viktor Bout. The United Nations Panel of Experts concluded in their November 2013 report that "evidence indicates, however, that in approving the funds Urey was acting on the orders of Taylor." The Liberian Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) recommended in its final report that Urey be prosecuted for the commission of economic crimes during the civil war and barred from holding public office for 30 years. During the TRC hearings, Urey was identified by witness James Paul as operating the Liberian Rubber Company and exporting "hundred of thousands of tons of rubber", the proceeds of which were never accounted for. Urey has denied any involvement in the violence of the Liberian and Sierra Leone civil conflicts, maintaining that as a civilian being appointed to head the Maritime Commission, he made no war-related decisions.