Overview:
In a report revealed Thursday, Haiti’s Anti-Corruption Unit (ULCC) revealed main embezzlement circumstances involving former officers from the Workplace of Citizen Safety (OPC), Workplace of Work-Associated Accidents, Illness and Maternity Insurance coverage (OFATMA) and the Immigration and Emigration Workplace, totaling over $987,000 in public losses. Renan Hédouville (OPC) is accused of fictitious journeys, Carl François (OFATMA) of unlawful catering contracts and Stéphane Vincent (Immigration) of passport fraud. The ULCC warns of weak judicial follow-up amid Haiti’s long-standing failure to prosecute corruption.
PORT-AU-PRINCE — The Anti-Corruption Unit (ULCC) submitted six investigative stories on Might 8, revealing main mismanagement and embezzlement of over a million {dollars} throughout Haiti’s public establishments. Probably the most critical circumstances—totaling over $987,000 in misused state funds—contain the Workplace of Citizen Safety (OPC), Workplace of Work-Associated Accidents, Illness and Maternity Insurance coverage (OFATMA) and the Directorate of Immigration and Emigration (DIE).
Former Ombudsman Renan Hédouville is accused of diverting funds for fictitious missions and claiming per diems and airplane tickets for 10 official journeys between 2019 and 2024 that by no means occurred. The ULCC reported $127,630 in bills linked to those fictitious missions, together with:
- $15,960 personally collected by Hédouville.
- $14,500 by his chief of workers, Régine Hédouville—his daughter.
- $11,800 by IT coordinator Tex Willer Célafoi Louis, the previous OPC director’s son-in-law.
Data present Louis and his spouse Régine suspiciously withdrew $23,375 from their Capital Financial institution and UNIBANK accounts. A number of different OPC staff, together with Juliana Thomas Simplice and Jean Jolin Dodier, obtained greater than $28,000 in bogus per diem funds.
The report says tickets had been bought from the Sans Souci journey company operated by Marie France Petoia—with out public tenders—violating procurement legal guidelines. Regardless of being summoned, Hédouville refused to look earlier than investigators, as a substitute suing the ULCC and claiming his e-mail was hacked. A warrant has since been issued for his arrest.
The ULCC recommends expenses for embezzlement, obstruction of justice, and illegal contracting, and requires a Supreme Court docket audit of his time period.
François and Vincent focused in catering contract scandal and passport fraud scheme
Carl François, former OFATMA director, is accused of handpicking two catering corporations—Valcuisine and Oley Occasion and Meals Companies—with out a bidding course of. One of many co-directors, Valérie Nadia Victor, is a political ally of François, and each belong to the MTV Ayiti celebration. The ULCC flagged this as a transparent battle of curiosity.
Valcuisine obtained $791,325—95% of the $828,025 OFATMA spent on meals companies between 2022 and 2025. Their meals value greater than the earlier supplier’s, and required tax deductions had been skipped, costing the state an extra $16,570.
François, Victor and Valmine Jean Jacques now face really helpful expenses for forgery, battle of curiosity and embezzlement.
“The documented info represent prison offenses and deserve exemplary sanctions to revive State authority.”
Haiti’s Anti-Corruption Unit (ULCC)
In just below 4 months on the helm of the Immigration Directorate, Stéphane Vincent is accused of authorizing 556 passport issuances with out correct tax funds—costing the state $28,120.
In keeping with the ULCC, Vincent and a number of other public officers—together with Lesly Saint Juste, Marriantha Merone, and Rubens Pauleon—used a faux person account beneath the alias Fernando Victor to validate passport functions with out funds being processed via the treasury.
The company is asking for prosecution and sanctions, together with asset freezes for all concerned.
The Hédouville, Vincent and François circumstances are a part of a broader corruption investigation uncovered by the ULCC. Three extra stories spotlight broader public fund abuses totaling $903,076 :
- 4 passport facilities in Delmas, Tabarre, Pétion-Ville and Rue Lamarre, Port-au-Prince, illegally collected $557,692 in money beneath Vincent’s directives.
- A no-bid public contract price $261,538 was issued, and $83,846 was spent with out documentation.
- In Saint-Marc, officers, together with Washny Bien-Aimé and Castel Ertilus deposited state funds into a private account and paid themselves salaries and per diems with out authorization.
- In Hinche, public official Gerline Joseph illegally allotted farmland to a private contact utilizing falsified paperwork.
Little motion from the justice system
Regardless of the dimensions of those offenses, the ULCC warns that Haiti’s justice system has hardly ever adopted via. Between 2004 and 2024, the company submitted 87 stories recommending prison prosecution. Just one case led to a conviction, whereas 4 had been closed—one via dismissal.
The company now urges the judiciary to take agency motion, together with prosecuting named people, freezing property and imposing full audits.
Editor’s word: These stories are a part of an ongoing investigation into authorities corruption. The Haitian Instances will proceed monitoring developments as they unfold.