Rene Duperval Motion to Appeal Sentence in Telecom Kick-Back Scheme

Attorneys representing a Haiti high-level official, Rene Duperval, convicted of money laundering in a kick-back scheme between Haiti Telco and two U.S. telecom companies, filed a motion Friday afternoon to appeal his sentence. The past Director of International Relations at Haiti received a nine-year prison sentence for charges related to money laundering (19 counts) and money laundering conspiracy (2 counts). Besides the convictions, the defendant was forced to deposit close to $500,000 in bribery money that he allegedly received from Terra and Cinergy in 2003 and 2006, into a court escrow account.

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Rene Duperval's attorney, John E. Bergendahl, filed the motion in the U.S. Court of Appeals, 11th Circuit, announcing his intention to appeal Duperval's prison term. When contacted by the news media, Bergendahl declined to comment.

The case of Rene Duperval is only one of several prosecuted as the result of a far-reaching probe into the telecom kick-back scheme, in which Florida telecoms, Terra and Cinergy, bribed high-level officials at Haiti Telco, in return for drastically discounted phone rates and automatic contract renewals. The probe extended as far as implicating former Haiti President Jean-Bertrand Aristide in the corruption scandal.

Eight other defendants have been tried and convicted of accepting bribes and/or money laundering, chief among them Joel Esquenazi, past president of a telecom company, who garnered the longest-running prison term, in U.S. jurisprudence, for defying the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. Esquenazi is also appealing his prison sentence in the 11th Circuit Court.

Rene Duperval, appeal, prison, Haiti
Rene Duperval is looking to appeal his nine year prison sentence.

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Read more: Martelly - United States, Scam, Scam Artist, Jean Rene Duperval, telecom, Haiti Telecom, Kick-Back, Money Laundering, Florida, Technology

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