Haiti Anti-Graft Investigators Accuse High-Ranking Officials of Corruption, According to Reuters

PORT-AU-PRINCE (Reuters) – On Wednesday, Haiti’s anti-corruption agency filed charges against five prominent individuals, including three members of an interim governing council, in connection with a bribery scandal involving the chairman of a state-owned bank.

The accused council members—diplomat Smith Augustin, politician Louis Gerald Gilles, and former judge Emmanuel Vertilaire—are part of a nine-member council that was appointed in April to serve as the executive authority of the country until new elections can be organized amid ongoing turmoil in the Caribbean nation. All three have denied the allegations of abuse of office, bribery, and corruption.

The national palace has not issued a comment, and there has been no response from the prime minister’s office regarding the matter.

The agency, known as ULCC, has also implicated local official Lonick Leandre, who is alleged to be the mastermind behind the bribery scheme, and Raoul Pascal Pierre-Louis, the former chairman of the Banque Nationale de Credit. The ULCC has requested Pierre-Louis’s extradition from the United States.

Leandre has denied the charges against him, while Pierre-Louis, accused of obstructing justice in this case, has not made any public statements. Attempts to reach him for comment were unsuccessful.

In late July, Pierre-Louis wrote a letter alleging that the council members demanded a bribe of nearly $770,000 for him to retain his position, expressing concerns for his safety. He recounted that he initially thought the demand was a joke, noting how Leandre and a council member collected phones in a hotel room before requesting the bribe.

According to ULCC’s report, Pierre-Louis did not possess the funds and instead offered credit cards with a limit of $20,000 to the council members. Subsequently, the bank approved these credit cards, along with a $12,500-limit card for Leandre.

The agency stated it could not verify a monthly “intelligence fee” claimed by Augustin, which was reported to be approximately $190,000.

The interim governing council had initially been viewed positively, especially after the previous administration was widely criticized for corruption.

Recently, the United Nations expressed support for enhancing the capabilities of the ULCC, which has seen only one conviction out of 87 cases it presented to the judiciary.