Investigators in Haiti accuse three members of transitional presidential council of corruption

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — An anti-corruption agency in Haiti on Wednesday accused three members of the country's transitional presidential council of bribery in a scathing report that threatens to destabilise the country's fragile political stability.

Smith Augustin, Emmanuel Vertilaire and Louis Gérald Gilles are accused of demanding more than $750,000 from the director of the government-owned National Bank of Credit to secure his job, the Unit for Combating Corruption said in its report.

Gilles organised a meeting among the council members, the former bank director, Raoul Pascal Pierre-Louis, and Haitian consul Lonick Leandre at the Royal Oasis Hotel in the capital of Port-au-Prince, where the demand was made, the agency said. Leandre also is accused of accepting bribes.

After the meeting, Pierre-Louis mentioned the demand to several officials, including Prime Minister Garry Conille and a judge. Unable to come with the more than $750,000, Pierre-Louis proposed instead to arrange loans or lines of credit, according to the report.

Authorities said that four lines of credit were soon arranged, three of them up to $20,000 each for the council members accused, and a fourth up to $13,500 for Leandre.

The three council members and the bank manager all face criminal charges of bribery and corruption, the anti-corruption unit said. Leandre faces charges of instigating bribe payments. None of them could be reached for comment.

The agency also called on the US government to extradite Pierre-Louis.

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