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11th Circuit Discusses “Routine Governmental Action” Prong Of The FCPA’s Facilitation Payments Exception

By on February 11, 2015 in Facilitating Payments, FCPA Appeals, FCPA Jurisprudence, Foreign Official, Jean Rene Duperval
11th Cir.

February 2013 post highlighted the criminal appeal of Jean Rene Duperval, the alleged “foreign official” at the center of the various Haiti Teleco enforcement actions, including U.S. v. Esquenazi, the recent 11th Circuit decision concerning the “foreign official” element.

In connection with the Haiti Teleco cases, Duperval was found guilty by a jury on various money laundering charges. As highlighted in the prior post, Duperval appealed his conviction to the 11th Circuit and among the issues appealed were:

  • whether the evidence was “insufficient to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Haiti Teleco was a government instrumentality and that Duperval was a foreign official as required to prove that a violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act generated proceeds of a specified unlawful activity – a necessary predicate for the convictions on the money laundering conspiracy and substantive money laundering charges.”
  • various due process challenges concerning the declaration of the Haitian Prime Minister; and
  • whether the “trial court erred in not charging the jury in accordance with Duperval’s proffered theory of defense instruction” as to whether the FCPA’s facilitation payments exception applied.

Earlier this week, the 11th Circuit issues this opinion.  The opinion begins as follows.

“This appeal of criminal convictions involving money laundering and foreign bribery presents issues of exposure of jurors to publicity; the sufficiency of the evidence that a telephone company was an “instrumentality” of a foreign government, 15 U.S.C. § 78dd-2(h)(2)(A); whether the administration of a multimillion dollar contract is “routine governmental action,” id. § 78dd-2(h)(4)(A); whether the government interfered with a witness when it obtained a clarifying declaration from that witness; and four issues about the application of the United States Sentencing Guidelines. Jean Rene Duperval appeals both his convictions of two counts of conspiring to commit money laundering, 18 U.S.C. § 1956(h), and 19 counts of concealment of money laundering, id. § 1956(a)(1)(B)(i), and his sentence of imprisonment of 108 months followed by three years of supervised release. Duperval worked as the Director of International Affairs at Telecommunications D’Haiti, a company owned by the government of Haiti. Duperval participated in two schemes in which international companies gave him bribes in exchange for favors from Teleco. Duperval’s arguments fail. We affirm.”

As relevant to “foreign official,” the 11th Circuit’s discussion of this issue in Duperval mirrors the 11th Circuit’s conclusion in U.S. v. Esquenazi.  In short, in Duperval the court stated: “[i]n Esquenazi and this appeal, the government introduced almost identical evidence about Teleco. […] As in Esquenazi, the jury could have reasonably found that Teleco was an instrumentality of Haiti.”

As relevant to the “routine government action” portion of the facilitation payments exception, the 11th Circuit stated:

“Duperval admitted that he received money from Cinergy and Terra, but he asserted that the money was for doing a good job in the administration of the contracts. Duperval’s counsel requested a jury instruction based on an exception to the Act for routine governmental action, id. § 78dd-2(b), but the district court denied this request.”

[…]

“Duperval argues that the district court erred when it refused his proffered jury instruction. Duperval requested that the district court instruct the jury on the exception to the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act for routine governmental action, 15 U.S.C. § 78dd-2(b). Duperval argues that he was entitled to an instruction on this defense because he introduced evidence that he was paid only for administering the contracts within their terms. But we conclude that the district court did not err when it refused Duperval’s instruction.

A defendant has the right to have the jury instructed on a theory of defense only if “the proposed instruction presents a valid defense and [if] there has been some evidence adduced at trial relevant to that defense.” United States v. Ruiz, 59 F.3d 1151, 1154 (11th Cir. 1995). When we review the refusal to give an instruction for abuse of discretion, we ask whether “the requested instruction is correct, not adequately covered by the charge given, and involves a point so important that failure to give the instruction seriously impaired the party’s ability to present an effective case.” Svete, 556 F.3d at 1161 (internal quotation marks omitted). But we need not engage in this inquiry if the defendant failed to introduce evidence relevant to the jury instruction.

The Act allows “any facilitating or expediting payment to a foreign official . . . the purpose of which is to expedite or to secure the performance of a routine governmental action.” 15 U.S.C. § 78dd-2(b). Routine governmental action includes actions such as “obtaining permits . . . to do business[;] . . . processing governmental papers, such as visas and work orders; providing police protection, mail pick-up and delivery, or scheduling inspections[; and] . . . providing phone service, power and water supply, loading and unloading cargo, or protecting perishable products.” Id. § 78dd-2(h)(4)(A). Other actions are routine governmental action only if they are “actions of a similar nature” to those listed in the statute. Id. § 78dd-2(h)(4)(A)(v). But routine governmental action “does not include . . . any action taken by a foreign official involved in the decision-making process to encourage a decision to award new business to or continue business with a particular party.” Id. § 78dd-2(h)(4)(B).

Duperval argues that he performed a routine governmental action when he administered the contracts, but he misunderstands this exception to the Act. As the Fifth Circuit explained, “[a] brief review of the types of routine governmental actions enumerated by Congress shows how limited Congress wanted to make the . . . exception[].” United States v. Kay, 359 F.3d 738, 750 (5th Cir. 2004). These actions are “largely non-discretionary, ministerial activities performed by mid- or low-level foreign functionaries,” id. at 751, and the payments allowed under this exception are “grease payments” to expedite the receipt of routine services, id. at 747. The administration of a multi-million dollar telecommunication contract is not an “action[] of a similar nature” to the actions enumerated in the Act. 15 U.S.C. § 78dd-2(h)(4)(A)(v). Duperval was not a low-level employee who provided a routine service; he was a high ranking official who administered international contracts. And, when Terra and Cinergy paid Duperval, their “grease payment” was not to expedite the receipt of a routine service. Duperval was not “providing phone service” as the Act uses that term, id. § 78dd-2(h)(4)(A)(iv). “[P]hone service” appears along with “providing . . . power and water supply, loading and unloading cargo, or protecting perishable products.” Id. The text of the statute refers to the government providing a service to a person or business, not to the government administering contracts with companies that provide telephone service.

Duperval’s interpretation also is in tension with the section of the Act that describes what is not routine governmental action, id. § 78dd-2(h)(4)(B). A party cannot pay a decision-maker to continue a contract with the government, id., but under Duperval’s interpretation, a party could circumvent this limitation by “rewarding” the decision-maker for doing a good job in administering the current contract. This interpretation, which would provide an end-run around the provisions of the Act, finds no support in the text of the Act. Duperval presented evidence that he administered multi-million dollar contracts. He failed to prove that he performed a routine governmental action. Without any evidence to support his defense, Duperval was not entitled to his requested jury instruction.”

The 11th Circuit’s conclusion as to “routine governmental action,” was hardly surprising given the facts at issue in Duperval and Duperval’s argument.

Nevertheless, the 11th Circuit’s discussion of facilitation payments in Duperval is believed to be the first time an appellate court has squarely  addressed this prong of the FCPA (as the Fifth Circuit’s discussion of facilitation payments in Kay was dicta).

Checking In

By on August 1, 2013 in 2013 Enforcement Actions, ALSTOM, DOJ Enforcement Action, Executive Enforcement Action, FCPA Appeals, Foreign Official, Frederic Pierucci, Haiti Teleco Enforcement Actions, Individual Enforcement Action, Indonesia, Jean Rene Duperval, Lawrence Hoskins

This post checks in on recent developments in two enforcement actions:  (i) the FCPA enforcement action against various individuals associated with Alstom; and (ii) the FCPA-related enforcement action against alleged Haitian “foreign official” Jean Duperval currently on appeal to the 11th Circuit.

Alstom-Related Action

Earlier this week, the DOJ announced that Lawrence Hoskins, “a former senior vice president for the Asia region for [Alstom], was charged in the District of Connecticut with conspiring to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and to launder money, as well as substantive FCPA and money laundering violations.”

The conduct at issue in the Second Superceding Indictment is the same core conduct alleged in original criminal charges filed against Frederic Pierucci and David Rothschild, as well as the conduct alleged in the Superceding Indictment which added William Pomponi to the action.  (See here and here for previous posts).    That is –  alleged payments in connection with the Tarahan coal-fired steam power plant project in Indonesia.  In the prior charging documents, Hoskins was generically referred to as Executive A.

As noted in previous posts, Rothschild pleaded guilty to conspiracy to violate the FCPA.

The DOJ further announced in its release earlier this week that Pierucci pleaded guilty to one count of conspiring to violate the FCPA and one count of violating the FCPA.  (See here for the plea agreement).

Duperval Action

This previous post detailed the 11th Circuit appeal of Jean Duperval.  Duperval was one of the alleged “foreign officials” charged in connection with the Haiti Teleco enforcement actions (see here for a summary and roundup of the entire Haiti Teleco enforcement actions) with non-FCPA offenses and he was found guilty by a jury of various money laundering charges.

As noted in the previous post, in his appeal Duperval argues, among other things, as follows.  “The evidence was insufficient to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Haiti Teleco was a government instrumentality and that Jean Rene Duperval was a foreign official as required to prove that a violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act generated proceeds of a specified unlawful activity – a necessary predicate for the convictions on the money laundering conspiracy and substantive money laundering charges.”

As noted in the previous post, Duperval’s substantive arguments as to “foreign official” largerly mirror the arguments of Joel Esquenazi and Carlos Rodriguez (also criminally charged and convicted in the Haiti Teleco matter) in their historical “foreign official” appeal to the 11th Circuit (see here for links to the briefing).

Among other things, Duperval’s argument includes discussion and several citations to my “foreign official” declaration  (see here).

Briefing is now complete in the Duperval appeal.

Not surprisingly, the DOJ’s arguments in connection with “foreign official” largely mirror the arguments it makes in the Esquenazi and Rodriguez appeal.  The DOJ is again seeking to exclude my foreign official declaration from the record and its brief states:

“Duperval relies on a 144-page declaration by a proposed defense expert that was filed on behalf of the defendants in Carson.  Although Duperval suggests that this Court may take judicial notice of the declaration because it relates to legislative history, the declaration selectively reviews the legislative history and draws inferences in support of a defense motion to dismiss the indictment. As such, it is not necessarily the statement of a disinterested expert, it was not reviewed as a scholarly article, and it was never subject to impeachment in the case below.”

Last week Duperval filed a reply brief, and not surprisingly, the arguments in connection with “foreign official” largely mirror the arguments made by Esquenazi and Rodriguez in their reply brief.  As to my “foreign official” declaration, the brief states:

“The government also condemns Duperval’s reference to Professor Michael J. Koehler’s declaration addressing the legislative history of the FCPA, which was filed in United States v. Carson. Aside from the analysis contained in the Koehler declaration, the substance of the declaration is the legislative history of the FCPA. The Court can surely take notice of legislative history, and evaluate the utility and accuracy of Professor Koehler’s declaration for itself. But the Government’s claim that the declaration of a professor filed in another criminal proceeding and under penalty of perjury is somehow of lower status than a law-review article reviewed by law students strains credulity.”

It will be an interesting “foreign official” Fall in the 11th Circuit.

Haiti Teleco “Foreign Official” Says He Was Not A “Foreign Official” – Files Appeal On This And Other Issues

By on February 8, 2013 in Carlos Rodriguez, FCPA Appeals, Foreign Official, Haiti Teleco Enforcement Actions, Jean Rene Duperval, Joel Esquenazi

Some background is necessary to place in context an interesting development that is likewise relevant to the pending Eleventh Circuit “foreign official” appeal by Joel Esquenazi and Carlos Rodriguez (see here for the prior post linking to the full briefing in the case).

In terms of the number of individual criminal defendants (9), the Haiti Teleco enforcement actions are the largest in FCPA history (minus the manufactured Africa Sting case).  The FCPA charges in the enforcement actions were based on the theory that Haiti Teleco was a “instrumentality ” of the Haitian government, such that Haiti Teleco employees were “foreign officials” under the FCPA.  Seven of the defendants pleaded guilty and two of the defendants, Esquenazi and Rodriguez, exercised their constitutional right to a jury trial and were found guilty of FCPA and related charges.  As noted above, both defendants have appealed their convictions to the Eleventh Circuit.  [Disclosure – I am providing pro bono expert services to defendants’ counsel, including my former law firm Foley & Lardner, relevant to the “foreign official” issue].

In addition to the FCPA (and related) charges brought against the above category of defendants, the DOJ also criminally charged three “foreign officials” in connection with the matter (see this prior post titled “Haiti Teleco Roundup” for additional details).  Two of the individuals pleaded guilty to non-FCPA offenses, and one “foreign official,” Jean Rene Duperval, was found guilty by a jury on various money laundering charges.

In short, 12 individuals were criminally charged, pleaded guilty, and/or were found guilty based, in whole or in part, on the theory that Haiti Teleco was an “instrumentality” of the Haitian government.

This prosecution theory of course is a main focus of the Esquenazi and Rodriguez appeal in the Eleventh Circuit.  As noted in this prior post, shortly after their convictions and before their current appeal, a stunning development occurred in the case as the Haitian Prime Minister (Jean Max Bellerive) authored a declaration, on behalf of the Haitian Ministry of Justice, concerning the “Legal Status of Teleco.”  (See here for the declaration).   The declaration asserted, among other things, that “Teleco has never been and until now is not a state enterprise.”  The declaration was dated ten days before the jury reached its verdict in the Esquenazi and Rodriguez trial and subsequent filings in the cases suggest that the origins of the declaration was in response to a letter sent by Paul Calli (Carlton Fields – then an attorney for Patrick Joseph (one of the “foreign officials” who pleaded guilty in the case)) inquiring about the status of Haiti Teleco and whether it was a private company or a government owned company.

In a further stunning development, and as noted in this prior post, after the Bellerive declaration surfaced, the DOJ contacted the Prime Minister and he filed a revised declaration (here), in which he backtracked from many of his prior declaration statements, and stated that he did not know his original declaration  “was going to be used in criminal legal proceedings in the United States or that it was going to be used in support of the argument that […] Teleco was not part of the Public Administration of Haiti.”

The trial court judge in the Esquenazi and Rodriguez case denied defendants’ request for a new trial and this denial is among the issues on appeal in the Eleventh Circuit.

And now for the interesting and notable recent development alluded to in this Main Justice story.

Duperval, the key “foreign official” at the center of the Haiti Teleco prosecutions, filed an appeal (here) in the Eleventh Circuit earlier this week challenging his convictions.  One issue on appeal is stated as follows.  “The evidence was insufficient to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Haiti Teleco was a government instrumentality and that Jean Rene Duperval was a foreign official as required to prove that a violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act generated proceeds of a specified unlawful activity – a necessary predicate for the convictions on the money laundering conspiracy and substantive money laundering charges.”

Separately, Duperval’s brief discusses the Bellerive declarations in connection with his due process challenges.  Among other things, the brief notes that the DOJ’s “explanation and Bellerive’s statements in his second declaration, are nothing short of disingenuous, border on the nonsensical, and are expressly contradicted by the previous correspondence, which established that Bellerive signed the first declaration in response to an inquiry from an attorney representing Patrick Joseph …”.    The brief then asserts that “but for the government’s unjustified interference with Prime Minister Bellerive, Mr. Duperval could have availed himself of a favorable witness to demonstrate quite simply that Teleco was not a government instrumentality and he was not a foreign official.”

Duperval’s brief also challenges the sufficiency of the trial court evidence regarding “foreign official” and whether Duperval was a “foreign official as required to prove a charge of money laundering related to the proceeds of a violation of the FCPA.”  The substantive arguments on this issue largely mirror previous defense arguments in the Lindsey Manufacturing and Carson “foreign official” challenges as well as Esquenazi’s and Rodriguez’s arguments on appeal.  Duperval’s argument includes discussion and several citations to my “foreign official” declaration (see here).

Another interesting aspect of Duperval’s appeal is his challenge that the “trial court erred in not charging the jury in accordance with Duperval’s proffered theory of defense instruction.”  Specifically, Duperval argues that the trial court denied Duperval’s FCPA facilitation payments exception instruction.  The brief asserts that the “language in the instruction was extracted verbatim” from the FCPA and that there was “ample evidence in the record to support the giving of the instruction.”

In this regard, it is interesting to note that in Judge Keith Ellison’s (S.D. Tex.) December 2012 Jackson / Ruehlen decision (see here for the prior post regarding the SEC enforcement action) he concluded, in what is believed to be an issue of first impression, that the SEC must bear the burden of negating the facilitation payments exception.

Friday Roundup

By on May 25, 2012 in Congressional Activity, FCPA Reform, FCPA Sentences, Foreign Official, Haiti Teleco Enforcement Actions, Jean Rene Duperval

Efforts to influence the upcoming guidance, a stiff FCPA-related sentence, Representatives Cummings and Waxman think they are on to something, and thumbs up – it’s all here in the Friday roundup.

Guidance

Earlier this week, Global Financial Integrity, Open Society Foundations, and others released this letter to the DOJ and SEC concerning upcoming FCPA guidance.  The letter addresses “foreign official,” a compliance defense, voluntary disclosure, declination decisions, parent-subsidiary liability, successor liability, de minimis gifts and hospitality, and mens rea and corporate criminal liability.

As to “foreign official” the letter states “that ownership of companies around the world, including in the U.S., is impossible to determine independently” and that “the staff of a U.S. company is not likely to be able to independently verify the direct and indirect ownership of foreign companies.”  The letter also states, as to control of an instrumentality by a foreign government, that control can be conferred, among other ways, by “unspoken custom.”

Should one laugh or cry when reading such statements concerning a key element of the most important U.S. law governing international business transactions?  Perhaps the groups don’t care.  After all, as noted here, some of the groups have previously stated as follows regarding “foreign official” – “The U.S. Chamber is promoting the creation of a definition of “foreign official” so that companies have greater legal certainty. Greater certainty of what? Greater certainty of who they are permitted to bribe and who they are not permitted to bribe.  […]  In short, defining the term “foreign official” would underscore the idea that it is OK to bribe certain people and not others, a principle the United States surely does not want to promulgate.”

Duperval Sentenced

Earlier this week, the DOJ announced (here) that “Jean Rene Duperval, a former director of international relations for Telecommunications D’Haiti S.A.M. (Haiti Teleco), a Haitian state-owned telecommunications company, was sentenced [by U.S. District Court Judge Jose Martinez in the Southern District of Florida] to nine years in prison for his role in a scheme to launder bribes paid to him by two Miami-based telecommunications companies.”  The stiff sentence continues the trend of the Southern District of Florida (and Judge Martinez in particular) handing out the toughest FCPA or FCPA-related sentences in the country.

As noted in the release,  Duperval was convicted in March 2012 of two counts of conspiracy to commit money laundering and 19 counts of money laundering. According to the release, “Judge Martinez also ordered Duperval to forfeit $497,331.”  Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer stated as follows.  “Mr. Duperval took bribes in exchange for giving companies an unfair and illegal advantage in the marketplace, and then tried to hide these illicit transactions behind the cloak of shell corporations and fake invoices.  Just as we prosecute corrupt businesspeople under the FCPA, we will hold accountable corrupt foreign officials when they seek to launder the proceeds of that bribery through the U.S. financial system.  Today’s nine-year prison sentence sends a strong message to foreign officials and others who would facilitate foreign corruption that they will face serious consequences.”

As noted in this prior post, the Haiti Teleco case (minus the manufactured and now former Africa Sting case) is the largest in FCPA history in terms of defendants charged – 13.  The prior post provides a summary of all the enforcement actions.

The Latest FCPA Reform Volley

If your third cousin received a speeding ticket years ago does this prohibit you from forever seeking reform of speed limit laws?  Probably not the best analogy, but Representatives Elijah Cummings and Henry Waxman seem to think so.  As noted in this previous post, Cummings (Ranking Member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform) and Waxman (Ranking Member of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce) sent letters to the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Retail Industry Leaders Association and the President of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce stating as follows.  “We are concerned about the role that Wal-Mart officials may have played in the Chamber’s Institute for Legal Reform (“ILR”).  It would appear to be a conflict of interest for Wal-Mart officials to advise on ways to weaken the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act at a time when the leadership of the company was apparently aware of corporate conduct that may have violated the law.”

Earlier this week, Representatives Cummings and Waxman again put pen to paper and sent this letter to the President of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce stating as follows.  “A new analysis by our staff reveals that Wal-Mart is not the only company represented on the ILR’s board that has faced allegations that it violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. Our review of ILR’s tax filings from 2007 to 20 10, member companies’ filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and other documents reveals that 14 out of 55 ILR board members-almost one in four- were affiliated with companies that were reportedly under investigation for violations or had settled allegations that they violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.”  See here for more.

Closing with the analogy, perhaps Representatives Cummings and Waxman should instead inquire about how the speeding laws are being enforced – or at the very least – read this prior post titled “The Sun Rose, A Dog Barked, And A Company Disclosed FCPA Scrutiny.”

Thumbs Up

To Howard Sklar for this recent post on his Open Air Blog.  I agree with the general thrust of Howard’s argument.  So did Congress when it passed the FCPA.  For that reason, and here is where I disagree with Howard, the issues he identifies are legal issues, not merely policy issues.

*****

A good weekend to all.

Haiti Teleco Roundup

By on March 22, 2012 in Amadeus Richers, Antonio Perez, Carlos Rodriguez, Cecilia Zurita, Cinergy Telecommunications, FCPA Sentences, FCPA Trials, Fusion Telecommunications, Haiti, Haiti Teleco Enforcement Actions, IDT Corporation, Jean Fourcand, Jean Rene Duperval, Joel Esquenazi, Juan Diaz, Marguerite Grandison, Patrick Joseph, Robert Antoine, Washington Cruz

Last week, the DOJ announced (here) that Jean Rene Duperval (a former director of international relations for Haiti Teleco) was “convicted by a federal jury on all counts for his role in a scheme to launder bribes paid to him by two Miami-based telecommunications companies.”

Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer stated as follows.  “Mr. Duperval was convicted by a Miami jury of laundering $500,000 paid to him as part of an elaborate bribery scheme.  As the director of international relations for Haiti’s state-owned telecommunications company, Duperval doled out business in exchange for bribes and then used South Florida shell companies to conceal his crimes.  This Justice Department is committed to stamping out corruption wherever we find it.”  Duperval is scheduled to be sentenced on May 21st.

The Haiti Teleco case (minus the manufactured and now former Africa Sting case) is the largest in FCPA history in terms of defendants charged – 13.  Below is a brief summary of the actions.

Individuals Charged With FCPA and/or Related Offenses

Antonio Perez.  In April 2009, Perez pleaded guilty to conspiracy to violate the FCPA.  As noted in this prior post, in January 2010, he was sentenced to 24 months in prison.

Juan Diaz.  In May 2009, Diaz pleaded guilty to conspiracy to violate the FCPA.  As noted in this prior post, in July 2010, he was sentenced to 57 months in prison.

Jean Fourcand.  As noted in this DOJ release, in February 2010, Fourcand pleaded guilty to one count of money laundering for receiving and transmitting bribe monies in the Haiti Teleco scheme.  In May 2010, Fourcard was sentenced to 6 months in prison.

Joel Esquenazi and Carlos Rodriguez.  As noted in this prior post, in August 2011, Esquenazi and Rodriguez were convicted by a jury for conspiracy to violate the FCPA, FCPA violations, and other offenses.  As noted in this prior post, in October 2011, Esquenazi was sentenced to 180 months in prison and Rodriguez was sentenced to 84 months in prison.  As noted below, Esquenazi and Rodriguez are appealing their convictions to the 11th Circuit.

Marguerite Grandison.  As noted in this DOJ release, in December 2009, Grandison was charged with one count of conspiracy to violate the FCPA and commit wire fraud, seven counts of FCPA violations, one count conspiracy to commit money laundering and 12 counts of money laundering.  According to a recent docket search, in February 2012, Grandison entered a not guilty plea and shortly thereafter the docket states as follows – “docket restricted/sealed until further notice.”

Washington Vasconez Cruz, Amadeus Richers and Cecilia Zurita.  These individuals (associated with Cinergy Telecommunications) are fugitives according to the DOJ.

“Foreign Officials” Charged With Non-FCPA Offenses

Duperval – see above.

Patrick Joseph. As noted in this prior post, the former director of international relations at Haiti Teleco pleaded guilty in February 2012 to conspiracy to commit money laundering. In July 2012, he was sentenced to 366 days in prison.

Robert Antoine.  As noted in this prior post, the former director of international affairs at Haiti Teleco pleaded guilty in March 2010 to conspiracy to commit money laundering.  In June 2010, he was sentenced to 48 months in prison.

Entity Charged

Cinergy Telecommunications.  As noted in this prior post, in February the DOJ moved to dismiss charges against Cinergy because it is a non-operational entity with no assets of any real value.

*****

Carlos Rodriguez and Joel Esquenazi are appealing their convictions to the 11th Circuit.  See here for the prior post regarding Rodriguez and his appellate counsel.  Recently, T. Markus Funk and Michael Sink (here and here of Perkins Coie) began representing Esquenazi in connection the appeal.  Funk, a former federal prosecutor in Chicago and US State Department lawyer co-chairs the ABA’s Global Anti-Corruption Task Force (here).

*****

This prior post discussed Haiti Teleco’s other preferred providers – namely IDT Corp. and Fusion Telecommunications – and linked to a recent Wall Street Journal article titled the “Looting of Haiti Teleco.”  The WSJ article was shortly countered with this post by Lucy Komisar.

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