25 June 2019
A retired U.S. Army colonel and the chief executive officer of an investment company were convicted today by a federal jury in Boston of conspiring to bribe senior officials of the Republic of Haiti in connection with a planned multi-million-dollar infrastructure project in that country.
Joseph Baptiste, 64, and Roger Richard Boncy, 74, a dual U.S. and Haitian citizen who resides in Madrid, Spain, were convicted of conspiracy to violate the Travel Act and the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. Baptiste was also convicted of one count of violating the Travel Act and one count of money laundering conspiracy. U.S. District Court. Sentencing is scheduled for 12 September 2019.
A retired U.S. Army colonel and the chief executive officer of an investment company were convicted today by a federal jury in Boston of conspiring to bribe senior officials of the Republic of Haiti in connection with a planned multi-million-dollar infrastructure project in that country.
Joseph Baptiste, 64, and Roger Richard Boncy, 74, a dual U.S. and Haitian citizen who resides in Madrid, Spain, were convicted of conspiracy to violate the Travel Act and the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. Baptiste was also convicted of one count of violating the Travel Act and one count of money laundering conspiracy. U.S. District Court. Sentencing is scheduled for 12 September 2019.
Baptiste (in the picture above) is a retired army colonel, practicing as a dentist in Maryland.
In an undercover sting operation, agents in Boston posed as potential investors in infrastructure projects in Haiti. The proposed project costing approximately $84 million was to involve the construction of a cement factory in its first phase, with subsequent phases having a shipping-vessel recycling station, an international transhipment station with numerous slips for shipping vessels, a power plant, a petroleum depot and tourist facilities.
In an undercover sting operation, agents in Boston posed as potential investors in infrastructure projects in Haiti. The proposed project costing approximately $84 million was to involve the construction of a cement factory in its first phase, with subsequent phases having a shipping-vessel recycling station, an international transhipment station with numerous slips for shipping vessels, a power plant, a petroleum depot and tourist facilities.
Roger Richard Boncy
Boncy and Baptiste told the agents, in a recorded meeting at a Boston-area hotel, they would funnel the bribes to Haitian officials through a non-profit entity that Baptiste controlled, which was based in Maryland and purported to help impoverished residents of Haiti.
Boncy and Baptiste also told the undercover agents that they could bribe officials at all levels of the Haitian government.
The FBI’s Boston Field Office and International Corruption Unit investigated the case.
Department of Justice reported.
Department of Justice reported.
