Former Haiti Government Official Pleads Guilty To Money Laundering
March 15, 2010
CaribWorldNews, MIAMI, FL, Mon. Mar. 15, 2010: A former Haitian official of the state-owned national telecommunications company has pleaded guilty to a money laundering conspiracy in connection with a foreign bribery scheme.
Robert Antoine, 62, pleaded guilty Friday and now faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a fine of $250,000 or twice the value of the property involved in the transaction.
Antoine also agreed to a forfeiture order of $1,580,771. Sentencing is scheduled for May 27, 2010. According to the indictment filed on Dec. 4, 2009 of Miami and Haiti, was the director of international affairs for Haiti`s state-owned national telecommunications company, Telecommunications D`Haiti (Haiti Teleco) from May 2001 to April 2003.
In that position, Antoine had primary responsibility for the relationships between U.S. telecommunications companies and Haiti Teleco. Antoine admitted during his guilty plea that he accepted bribes from three U.S. telecommunications companies and thereby defrauded Haiti Teleco.
To disguise the origin of these funds, Antoine admitted he laundered them through intermediary companies, including J.D. Locator Services. Juan Diaz, the president of J.D. Locator, pleaded guilty on May 15, 2009, to conspiracy to commit violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and money laundering.
Antoine also admitted that a portion of the J.D. Locator funds were also laundered by Jean Fourcand of Fourcand Enterprises, who pleaded guilty on Feb. 19, 2010, to money laundering.
Antoine additionally admitted during his guilty plea that $800,000 of these bribes were intended to be given to him by a U.S. telecommunications company for which Joel Esquenazi was the president and director, Carlos Rodriguez was the executive vice president, and Antonio Perez was, at times, the controller. Perez pleaded guilty on Apr. 27, 2009, to conspiring to commit FCPA violations and money laundering.
Esquenazi and Rodriguez, as well as Jean Rene Duperval, who was director of international relations of Haiti Teleco from June 2003 to April 2004, and Duperval`s sister, Marguerite Grandison, were indicted along with Antoine on Dec. 4, 2009.
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