Aristide could be prosecuted in the US / US opposed to his return to HaitiHe

The United States does not want Jean-Bertrand Aristide returned to Haiti before the second round of the presidential election.  

The spokesman for the U.S. State Department, PJ Crowley, said the return of former Lavalas president in exile since 2004, would be a "regrettable distraction for the Haitian people" as he prepares to election on March 20.  

The Spokesman for the State Department said Wednesday that the United States "would not want to see any action that would sow division in the electoral process in Haiti."


Just as Aristide's passport has been delivered to his laywer, paving the way for his return, the heat is rising against him in the embezzlement case regarding Teleco (the old Haitian phone company) and the telephone company Integrated Device Technology (IDT), based in New Jersey.   

(Download and see official civil action #05-22852 filed against Mr Aristide, Mr Duperval and 7 others).

The then director of international affairs of Teleco, Jean Rene Duperval, suspected of involvement in the misappropriation of funds and IDT Teleco to the Turks and Caicos Islands, is due to appear before a Court of Justice in Miami (Florida) next February 28. 



 

Lucy Komisar, the journalist investigating this matter, indicates that a possible deal between those charged and the Justice Department may reduce their sentences and lead to Jean Bertrand Aristide. In an interview givn to a Haitian Radio station, Ms. Komisar said that those investigations are conducted by the U.S. Department of Justice and the Federal Communication Commission (FCC). 


 
A former top executive of the IDT, Michael Jewett, who refused to participate in the embezzlement, was fired by IDT few weeks after signing the contract with Teleco.  The investigators suggest that some of the fees collected by IDT were not transferred to the Teleco but Mount Salem, a company run by a law firm in Turks and Caicos. 
 
Jean Rene Duperval, who will appear before the judicial authorities by the U.S. had signed the contract authorizing the transfer of funds to a shell company in Turks and Caicos. 

Click here to download 
Official civil action #05-22852 filed against Mr Aristide, Mr Duperval and 7 others.