Haiti anti-graft investigators accuse top-ranking officials of corruption
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Oct 2 (Reuters) -The Haitian government's anti-corruption agency charged five high-profile individuals with corruption on Wednesday, including three members of an interim governing council, over a scandal involving bribing the chairman of a state-owned bank.
The three are voting members of a nine-member council appointed in April to act as the country's executive branch until new elections can be held in the crisis-racked Caribbean island nation.
The council members - diplomat Smith Augustin, politician Louis Gerald Gilles and former judge Emmanuel Vertilaire - are accused of abuse of office, bribery and corruption. They have all rejected the charges.
Haiti's national palace had no immediate comment. The prime minister's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The anti-corruption body, known as the ULCC, also accused local official Lonick Leandre, the alleged orchestrator of the bribery scandal, and Raoul Pascal Pierre-Louis, the then-chairman of the Banque Nationale de Credit, of involvement in the corruption case.
ULCC investigators have requested the extradition of Raoul Pascal Pierre-Louis from the United States.
Leandre denies the charges, while Pierre-Louis, who has been accused with obstructing justice in the case, has not spoken out on the charge. Reuters was not able to reach him for comment.
In late July, Pierre-Louis published a letter accusing the council members of demanding a bribe equivalent to nearly $770,000 in exchange for retaining him in his post, adding that he feared for his safety.
"At first I thought it was a joke," Pierre-Louis is quoted as saying in the ULCC report, describing how Leandre and a council member collected phones in a hotel room before demanding the bribe.
According to the agency's report, Pierre-Louis did not have the funds and instead offered credit cards with a $20,000 limit to the three council members. The bank later approved the cards, alongside a $12,500-limit card for Leandre.
The unit added it was unable to corroborate a monthly "intelligence fee" declared by Augustin of around $190,000.
The interim council was seen as an improvement after the previous government was widely considered corrupt.
Last week, the United Nations backed strengthening the ULCC, which out of 87 investigations submitted to Haiti's judiciary, has obtained just one conviction.
($1 = 131.4336 gourdes)
Reporting by Sarah Morland and Harold Isaac; Editing by David Alire Garcia and Sonali Paul
Pinakabagong Balita
Disclaimer: Ang mga kabilang sa XM Group ay nagbibigay lang ng serbisyo sa pagpapatupad at pag-access sa aming Online Trading Facility, kung saan pinapahintulutan nito ang pagtingin at/o paggamit sa nilalaman na makikita sa website o sa pamamagitan nito, at walang layuning palitan o palawigin ito, at hindi din ito papalitan o papalawigin. Ang naturang pag-access at paggamit ay palaging alinsunod sa: (i) Mga Tuntunin at Kundisyon; (ii) Mga Babala sa Risk; at (iii) Kabuuang Disclaimer. Kaya naman ang naturang nilalaman ay ituturing na pangkalahatang impormasyon lamang. Mangyaring isaalang-alang na ang mga nilalaman ng aming Online Trading Facility ay hindi paglikom, o alok, para magsagawa ng anumang transaksyon sa mga pinansyal na market. Ang pag-trade sa alinmang pinansyal na market ay nagtataglay ng mataas na lebel ng risk sa iyong kapital.
Lahat ng materyales na nakalathala sa aming Online Trading Facility ay nakalaan para sa layuning edukasyonal/pang-impormasyon lamang at hindi naglalaman – at hindi dapat ituring bilang naglalaman – ng payo at rekomendasyon na pangpinansyal, tungkol sa buwis sa pag-i-invest, o pang-trade, o tala ng aming presyo sa pag-trade, o alok para sa, o paglikom ng, transaksyon sa alinmang pinansyal na instrument o hindi ginustong pinansyal na promosyon.
Sa anumang nilalaman na galing sa ikatlong partido, pati na ang mga nilalaman na inihanda ng XM, ang mga naturang opinyon, balita, pananaliksik, pag-analisa, presyo, ibang impormasyon o link sa ibang mga site na makikita sa website na ito ay ibibigay tulad ng nandoon, bilang pangkalahatang komentaryo sa market at hindi ito nagtataglay ng payo sa pag-i-invest. Kung ang alinmang nilalaman nito ay itinuring bilang pananaliksik sa pag-i-invest, kailangan mong isaalang-alang at tanggapin na hindi ito inilaan at inihanda alinsunod sa mga legal na pangangailangan na idinisenyo para maisulong ang pagsasarili ng pananaliksik sa pag-i-invest, at dahil dito ituturing ito na komunikasyon sa marketing sa ilalim ng mga kaugnay na batas at regulasyon. Mangyaring siguruhin na nabasa at naintindihan mo ang aming Notipikasyon sa Hindi Independyenteng Pananaliksik sa Pag-i-invest at Babala sa Risk na may kinalaman sa impormasyong nakalagay sa itaas, na maa-access dito.
