Can the US Dept. of Justice indict Aristide in Haiti for Teleco bribery scandal?

Former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide of Haiti addresses a
press conference days before his ouster on February 29, 2004.

Kevin Pina interviews former president Jean-Bertrand Aristide's attorney, Ira Kurzban, about recent indictments related to Haiti telecommunications bribery case.

From: USDOJ-Office of Public Affairs (SMO) [mailto:USDOJ-Office.of.Public.Affairs@usdoj.gov]
Sent: Wednesday, July 13, 2011 12:37 PM
To: USDOJ-Office of Public Affairs (SMO)
Subject: FLORIDA TELECOMMUNICATIONS COMPANY, TWO EXECUTIVES, AN INTERMEDIARY AND TWO FORMER HAITIAN GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS INDICTED FOR THEIR ALLEGED PARTICIPATION IN FOREIGN BRIBERY SCHEME

Note: The superseding indictment is attached in PDF format.

______________________________________________________________________________

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                                                CRM

WEDNESDAY, JULY 13, 2011                                                                              (202) 514-2008

WWW.JUSTICE.GOV                                                                                     TTY (866) 544-5309

FLORIDA TELECOMMUNICATIONS COMPANY, TWO EXECUTIVES, AN INTERMEDIARY AND TWO FORMER HAITIAN

GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS INDICTED FOR THEIR ALLEGED PARTICIPATION IN FOREIGN BRIBERY SCHEME

WASHINGTON - Cinergy Telecommunications Inc., Cinergy’s president and director, the president of Florida-based Telecom Consulting Services Corp. and two former Haitian government officials have been charged in a superseding indictment for their alleged roles in a foreign bribery, wire fraud and money laundering scheme, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Wifredo A. Ferrer of the Southern District of Florida and Special Agent in Charge Jose A. Gonzalez of the Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation’s (IRS-CI) Miami Field Office. 

According to the superseding indictment, the defendants allegedly participated in a scheme to commit foreign bribery and money laundering from December 2001 through January 2006.  The indictment alleges that during this time period Cinergy and its related company, Uniplex Telecommunications Inc., allegedly paid more than $1.4 million to shell companies to be used for bribes to foreign officials of the Republic of Haiti’s state-owned national telecommunications company, Telecommunications D’Haiti (Haiti Teleco).

According to court documents, Cinergy and Uniplex executed a series of contracts with Haiti Teleco that allowed the companies’ customers to place telephone calls to Haiti.  The bribe payments allegedly were authorized by Washington Vasconez Cruz, the telecommunications companies’ president, and Amadeus Richers, the companies’ director, and were allegedly paid to Haitian government officials at Haiti Teleco, including Patrick Joseph and Jean Rene Duperval.  According to the superseding indictment, the purpose of these bribes was to obtain various business advantages from the Haitian officials for Cinergy and Uniplex, including preferred telecommunications rates and credits toward sums owed.  To conceal the bribe payments, the defendants allegedly used various shell companies to receive and forward the payments, including J.D. Locator Services, Fourcand Enterprises and Telecom Consulting Services. 

The six defendants charged in the superseding indictment are:

·         Washington Vasconez Cruz, 63, of Miami, the president of Cinergy and Uniplex, is charged with one count of conspiracy to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and to commit wire fraud, six counts of FCPA violations, one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering and 19 counts of money laundering;
·         Amadeus Richers, 60, of Pembroke Pines, Fla., and Brazil, the then-director of Cinergy and Uniplex, is charged with one count of conspiracy to violate the FCPA and to commit wire fraud, six counts of FCPA violations, one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering and 19 counts of money laundering;
·         Cinergy Telecommunications Inc., a privately-held telecommunications company incorporated in Florida, is charged with one count of conspiracy to violate the FCPA and to commit wire fraud, six counts of FCPA violations, one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering and 19 counts of money laundering;
·         Patrick Joseph, 49, of Miami and Haiti, a former general director for telecommunications at Haiti Teleco, is charged with one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering;
·         Jean Rene Duperval, 44, of Miramar, Fla., and Haiti, a former director of international relations for telecommunications at Haiti Teleco, is charged with two counts of conspiracy to commit money laundering and 19 counts of money laundering; and
·         Marguerite Grandison, 42, of Miramar, the former president of Telecom Consulting Services Corp., and Duperval’s sister, is charged with two counts of conspiracy to commit money laundering and 19 counts of money laundering.

The superseding indictment also charges Duperval and Grandison with laundering corrupt payments authorized by Joel Esquenazi and Carlos Rodriguez on behalf of another Florida telecommunications company.

Duperval was charged previously in the indictment returned on Dec. 7, 2009, with one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering and 12 counts of money laundering.  Grandison was previously charged with one count of conspiracy to violate the FCPA and to commit wire fraud, seven counts of FCPA violations, one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering and 12 counts of money laundering.

Esquenazi and Rodriguez were charged in the initial December 2009 indictment and are unaffected by the superseding indictment.  They are scheduled to stand trial on July 18, 2011.

An indictment is merely an accusation, and defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

The conspiracy to commit violations of the FCPA and wire fraud count carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a fine of the greater of $250,000 or twice the value gained or lost.  The FCPA counts each carry a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a fine of the greater of $100,000 or twice the value gained or lost.  The conspiracy to commit money laundering counts each carry a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a fine of the greater of $500,000 or twice the value of the property involved in the transaction.  The money laundering counts each carry a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a fine of the greater of $500,000 or twice the value of the property involved in the transaction.  The superseding indictment also gives notice of criminal forfeiture.

On May 15, 2009, Juan Diaz, the president of J.D. Locator Services, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to violate the FCPA and money laundering.   He admitted to receiving more than $1 million in bribe money from telecommunications companies.  On July 30, 2010, he was sentenced to 57 months in prison.

On Feb. 19, 2010, Jean Fourcand, the president and director of Fourcand Enterprises Inc., pleaded guilty to one count of money laundering for receiving and transmitting bribe monies in the scheme.   On May 5, 2010, he was sentenced to six months in prison.

On March 12, 2010, Robert Antoine, the former director of international affairs for Haiti Telco, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering.  He admitted to receiving more than $1 million in bribes from Miami-based telecommunications companies.   On June 2, 2010, he was sentenced to 48 months in prison.

  The government’s investigation is ongoing. The Department of Justice is grateful to the government of Haiti for continuing to provide substantial assistance in gathering evidence during this investigation.  In particular, Haiti’s financial intelligence unit, the Unité Centrale de Renseignements Financiers (UCREF), the Bureau des Affaires Financières et Economiques (BAFE), which is a specialized component of the Haitian National Police, and the Ministry of Justice and Public Security provided significant cooperation and coordination in this ongoing investigation.

The case is being prosecuted by Senior Trial Attorneys Nicola J. Mrazek and James M. Koukios of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section, with the assistance of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida.   The Office of International Affairs in the Justice Department’s Criminal Division also provided assistance in this matter.  The cases were investigated by the IRS-CI Miami Field Office.

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American Journalist "destabilizing" press in Haiti?

Kathie Klarreich named by Agence Haitienne de Presse 
as american journalist using money to "destabilize" the Haitian press

Haiti/post-séisme: les centaines de milliers de dollars amassés par certaines ONG au nom du renforcement des médias haïtiens servent plutôt à les destabiliser


En Haïti, plus de 18 mois après le séisme dévastateur, on se demande toujours à quand la reconstruction du pays, annoncée à grands renforts de publicité et de promesses, lors des diférentes réunions des bailleurs à New-york, Punta Cana (RD) et ailleurs.

La question se pose aujourd'hui plus que jamais, puisque, malgré les 2 à 3 milliards de dollars dont on dit qu'ils ont été décaissés en faveur de la reconstruction, on n'en voit pourtant jusqu'ici aucune véritable trace, sinon quelques centaines de baraques qui auraient pu être des abris provisoires 1 ou 2 mois après le séisme.

La verité, celle qui crève les yeux aujourd'hui, est que le pays croule et gémit encore sous les déblais. La plupart des rescapés du 12 janvier vivent encore dans des tentes déchirées. Et Port-au-Prince étouffe de la pestilence dégagée par les fatras nauséabonds qui investissent littéralement les quartiers. De plus, un véhicule ne peut rouler 10 mètres sans tomber dans une crevasse ou une tranchée.

Cette situation de promesses non tenues, n'est pas limitée à la seule reconstruction. C'est malheureusement la même réalité dans beaucoup d'autres secteurs: la presse, par exemple.

Savez-vous combien de fois les directeurs de médias ont été invités par de grandes organisations internationales, au lendemain du séisme, avec comme réfrains: il faut renforcer la presse haïtienne, il faut donner des moyens aux médias et de la formation aux journalistes pour les rendre plus performants et mieux à même de se mettre au service de la population, après toutes les épreuves subies pendant le tremblement de terre.

Et lors des différentes rencontres, argent, équipement et formation ont en effet été promis. Mais le temps a passé. Et les faiseurs de promesses se sont rendus compte qu'il y avait là une source de business, un véritable tresor. Et ils ont monté leur propre boutique sur le dos de la presse haïtienne.

Et sur le dos de la presse haïtienne, au nom de son renforcement, ils sont partis mendier des fonds qu'ils ont bien sûr trouvés- mais pour eux seuls- ,griace à la grande sympathie dont Haïti et les Haïtiens étaient l'objet.

Et ...pan! La première grande preuve de ce renforcement, c'est de mettre en place des sructures parallèles d'information, de se payer des salaires faramineux... et de dépouiller les medias particulièrement les radios de leurs meilleurs journalistes et reporters, avec les miettes des centaines de milliers de dollars quémandés, mais qui représentent quand même le double voire le triple de ce qu'ils percevaient.

Les promesses s'envolent en fumée. Et ce sont les ONG de la presse qui s'enrichissent avec l'argent reçu pour les médias qui se retrouvent confrontés à bien plus de difficulté qu'avant, face à ces concurents indécents et malhonnêtes qui tirent leur fortune du séisme, alors que des centains de milliers de gens gens pataugent dans la boue.

Aujourd'hui, c'est une autre ONG qui fait son apparition, décidée plus que jamais à faire, elle aussi, son beurre. Son objectif officiel: fournir une formation à de jeunes haïtiens dans le domaine de l'enquête et de l'investigation.

Objectif on ne peut plus noble, si la première démarche des rsponsables de cette ONG créée par la journaliste américaine Kathie Klarreich n'était de destabiliser les médias en faisant une véritable razzia dans les salles de nouvelles, avec en main un sac de gourdes tirées des centaines de milliers de dollars obtenus, là encore, au nom du renforcement des médias haïtiens.

Comble d'indécence, interdiction formelle est faite aux journalistes recrutés: "pas question de donner une période de préavis aux médias que l'on vous fait quitter. On en a pas le temps"

Malheureusement, cette nouvelle ONG bénéficie de la collaboration d'un petit groupe de directeurs de médias grâcement payés, dans la mise en place de son entreprise malfaisante dont le seul appât est l'argent. (dossier à suivre) .

6th Anniversary of UN Massacre in Cite Soleil, July 6, 2011

Victims of the UN military assault on Cite Soleil, July 6, 2005

Flashpoints on Pacifica Radio re-examines the accusations of a massacre committed by United Nations military forces in the community of Cite Soleil Haiti on July 6, 2005.

Host: Kevin Pina

Guests: Seth Donnelly and Dave Welsh of the San Francisco Bay Area Labor Council, Ezili Danto of the Haitian Lawyers Leadership Network and Brian Concannon of the Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti.