DEPUTIES SCRUTINIZE FORMER MFA SPENDING

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PORT AU PRINCE 000199 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FOR WHA/CAR S/CRS SOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD STATE PASS TO USAID FOR LAC/CAR INR/IAA (BEN-YEHUDA) WHA/EX PLEASE PASS USOAS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL PGOV KDEM HA SUBJECT: DEPUTIES SCRUTINIZE FORMER MFA SPENDING PORT AU PR 00000199 001.2 OF 002 ¶1. This message is sensitive but unclassified -- protect accordingly ¶2. (SBU) The chamber of deputies' foreign affairs committee, led by Committee President Sorel Francois (Famni Lavalas), accused former foreign ministry employees, including the Haitian ambassador to the U.S., Raymond Joseph, and the consul general in New York, Felix Augustin, of corruption and mismanagement of funds, citing two separate checks totaling almost US $2 million (76 million Haitian gourdes) that ministry officials reportedly deposited at the central bank for payment to Haitian diplomatic missions abroad for May ¶2005. The money never arrived at the diplomatic missions and no one can account for the funds. Without proper funding, Ambassador Joseph explained in a testimony before the committee on January 18, the Haitian embassy in Washington transferred passport fees to cover operating expenses, transactions which had raised Francois' suspicion while he was in Washington reviewing diplomatic operations in October - November 2006. Ambassador Joseph told the committee that he used "irregular methods" to fund the embassy's operations in the absence of state funding (referring to part of the missing US $2 million that was intended for his embassy),but he assured the committee that he was never involved in corruption. On this account, the foreign affairs committee appeared satisfied with the Haitian Ambassador's response. ¶3. (SBU) Committee members further questioned Joseph (at the same hearing on January 18 with Augustin, at which Foreign Minister Renald Clerisme was also present) regarding evidence of transfers to shell companies in Miami. Ambassador Joseph explained that he was given "orders by telephone" by the interim government to make the transactions. Members expressed scorn for this explanation, stating that there was no such thing as "orders by telephone" for official government business, and sarcastically asked Joseph who he thought he was to make such transactions without official orders: "the President, or a super-minister." For this, Ambassador Joseph had no response. Nevertheless, Francois publicly declared that the committee was satisfied with the outcome of the hearing and with the Preval government's plan to move the case to the oversight office for review. Francois told Poloff on January 25 that he still believes that Ambassador Joseph made illegal transactions, but does not have enough evidence to prove it. He plans to press the government to continue the investigation. ¶4. (SBU) Following the committee hearing, the government's oversight office summoned two former foreign ministry administrators, Harold Bruno and Reynold Dorfeuille, on January 22 to give their account for the missing US $2 million. Bruno claimed that he gave the checks, as well as an order to send them abroad, to the central bank, but that other government officials gave instructions not to send the money. "I know the payroll was not completed, but the money was not sent into my personal account like you think," Bruno said. When asked where the money went, Bruno replied that it was used to service the MFA. Ultimately, the government's oversight office determined that it could not make a decision based on the evidence and instructed the accounts office to investigate the issue further. Francois, and Finance Committee President Jonas Coffy (also from Famni Lavalas and Francois' partner in his anti-corruption campaign) denounced the oversight office's ruling to further investigate the affair, arguing that they already had sufficient evidence to bring legal charges. ¶5. (SBU) Comment: Francois and Coffy's anti-corruption drive, directed at interim government officials and begun with much fanfare shortly after parliament's inauguration last May, appears to be sputtering out. Other parliamentary allies appear to have lost interest, and with no expertise or capacity of their own (and no apparent appetite within the current government to pursue the charges) corruption within the interim government looks set to become another in a long line of accusations will not be sufficiently investigated or clarified. Ambassador Joseph appears to have emerged relatively unscathed. He told the Ambassador prior to his PORT AU PR 00000199 002.2 OF 002 testimony that he had disarmed his accusers by simply agreeing to appear before the parliament, much to their surprise. Documents that Francois provided to the Embassy regarding Joseph's transactions indicate that he did indeed transfer large sums of money from the Embassy's operational accounts, but that these transactions were countersigned by other Embassy officials and documented with the foreign ministry. SANDERSON