Scam Artist - Haiti Observer Blog

Men in Haiti must now be careful with their love life. They may think they are falling in love but instead may be falling right into a kidnapper's hands. According to inspector Garry Derosiers, spokesperson for Haiti National Police, kidnappers in Haiti are now using new strategies to commit acts of kidnapping. Here is how it works: Some young ladies would start seducing a men at a Disco club and invite them home. However, instead of taking the men to their home, they take them to their accomplices and demand ransom for their release.

What do you think?

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Nouvo akizasyon te pibliye pa depatman Jistis nan Etazini nan yon kolaborasyon ak lapolis Swis. Kèk ofisyèl FIFA tankou Ansyen FIFA egzekitif Jack Warner, Jeffrey Webb, Alfredo Hawit ak Juan Angel Napout yo akize yo pou dwèt longue Siperyè. Moun sa yo akize pou vòlè $ 750,000 dedye pou moun ki te viktim tranbleman tè Ayiti an.

Jack Warner detounen $750,000 ke FIFA ak foutbòl Asosyasyon Koreyen te bay pou viktim yo. Pandan ke yo deja arete Alfredo Hawit ak Juan Angel NapoutSe Aranjman, yo ape travay pou ekstradisyon Jack Warner soti nan Trinidad pou Etazini.

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The Haitian artist Jean Losier did not think that creating beautiful painting painting was profitable enough. Hot involved instead in a more lucrative business. Prosecutors confirmed that he the artist had produced more than $4.5 million worth of counterfeit $50 and $100 bills at his Wellington art studio in Delray Beach.

WATCH VIDEO: Jean Losier Art

Unlike his real artwork, demand for his counterfeit $50 and $100 bills were high. Losier used a simple technic by bleached authentic $1 bills and then printed $50 and $100 on those bills. He had some some business partners who bought the fake bills at 10 cents on the dollar, In another way, they will purchase a pack of $10,000 fake bills $1,000.

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Here is something for the Haitian diaspora to think about. Former North Miami Mayor Lucie Tondreau was sentenced this Tuesday in Miami to spend five years and five months in federal prison. The 55 year old Haitian-Amercican Lucie Tondreau was convicted of conspiracy and wire fraud charges back in December 2014.

The Former Mayor will likely spend quite a number of years thinking about this. Following her prison time, Tondreau will also be required to serve three years of supervised release. She was also ordered to pay restitution of which the actual amount has not yet been determined.

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Lucie Tondreau who was suspended as North Miami Mayor was found guilty by a federal jury today (December 16, 2014) of conspiring to commit wire fraud. She is accused of loan conspiracy with partner and fiancé Karl Oreste and others of a total of $11million between 2005 and 2008. According to the details, she allowed bogus loan applications to use their names in exchange for kickbacks

After a two weeks trial, it took the 12 member jury only two hours to find Lucie Tondreau guilty of conspiracy and wire-fraud charges

Lucie Tondreau was elected as the Mayor of North Miami in 2013. She was arrested immediately after the verdict. With this conviction, she is looking at spending up to 30 years in Federal prison.

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A New York woman, believing she'd been hexed, sought services of a Voodoo practitioner, Pierre Jenty, in Miami Florida. Sixty-six year-old Jenty, a con artist, scammed upwards of $20,000 dollars out of her. It came to a violent end when she came up short of money on her last trip to him. She was drugged and raped.

The unidentified victim was a Haitian Voodoo believer. Voodoo, an integral part of Haitian culture, was brought to Haiti by Congolese slaves. When European colonists settled in Haiti, Catholicism became the dominant religion, forcing Voodoo underground. But Voodoo priests adopted Catholic practices, and the religions have co-existed peacefully since.

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Many reasons exist as to why reconstruction efforts in Haiti are dragging: pledges reneged on, mis-spending, and lack of transparency. The latest obstacle to reconstruction projects is leniency in Haiti's National Land Registry Office (NLRO) regulations.

The problem with land-registry procedures began in 1804, the year of Haiti's independence from French rule. Haiti's second president, Jean-Jacques Dessalines, urged land reform as part of his platform. But in intervening years up until the present, a loophole in the NLRO's procedural guidelines has indirectly caused stalled road reconstruction and other infrastructure projects in Haiti.

Protocol for land transfers includes inspection, notarization, and fulfillment of tax assessor requirements. Bypassing bureaucratic red tape and exorbitant fees, land owners have devised their own land-transfer strategies.

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A complaint was filed against Jean-Bertrand Aristide, former President, by the National Coordination of Members Victim of Cooperatives - (CONASOVIC) for conspiracy, fraud, theft and breach of trust.

Vast Swindling Leaves Members Ruined
CONASOVIC Coordonnateur, Rosemond Jean made clarifications that, former President of CNC - Council of Cooperatives, Henriot Petiote, Head of United Hearts, David Chery and former leader of the CADEC - Cooperative of Insurance Savings and Credit have also been pursued in the complaint by Members Victim of Cooperatives.

During the bankruptcy of 2002-2003, all assets had been lost by the financial cooperative members numbering thousands who had joined the scheme attracted by the 10% interest rate promised. There was a collapse of the get rich scheme due to the vast swindle thus leaving the members ruined and Haiti, much poorer.

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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.

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.

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Reports on fake kidnapping scams have been made recently. According to reports, scammers call random people and tell them that they have abducted a relative. It can be someone's brother, sister, son, or others. Once the victim has believed the caller, the criminal will then ask for ransom. These fake kidnappers would also frighten the caller by "threatening" the life of his/her relative.

Such incidents have happened in various places already, including Singapore and the American state of Miami. Officials said this crime is not new because it actually started in 1998 in Puerto Rico. According to Miami officials, more than 40 cases of kidnapping scams have already been reported in the past months. The Federal Bureau of Investigation added that the agency receives similar reports at least once a week.

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