BOSTON — The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Massachusetts has charged a retired U.S. Army Colonel for conspiring to bribe officials in Haiti.
According to federal officials, 64-year-old Joseph Baptiste is charged with money laundering and facilitating bribes in connection to a proposed project to develop a port in Mole-Saint-Nicholas, Haiti.
The proposed project was expected to cost around $84 million and involve a number of peripheral projects.
Baptiste allegedly told agents during a recorded meeting at a Boston hotel that he would funnel payments to Haitian officials through a non-profit organization he controls based in Maryland to secure government approval for the project.
He was allegedly recorded in a phone call with a federal agent saying the official would need $25,000 to approve the project.
“It is alleged that after undercover agents wired approximately $50,000 to the non-profit controlled by Baptiste for the purpose of bribing Haitian officials, Baptiste used the $50,000 for personal purposes, though he intended to seek additional money from the agents to use for future bribe payments in connection with the port project,” a news release about the charges reads.
Baptiste could face up to five years in prison and a fine of $250,000.
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