ARREST WARRANTS FOR CORRUPTION ISSUED FOR 36 PRESENT AND FORMER SENIOR LEADERS IN HAITI

If you are a compliance officer at a Canadian or American bank who caters to wealthy Haitian nationals, you might want to do a deep dive into the accounts of any affluent clients who might be Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs), given this week's news from Port-au-Prince. A judge there has issued arrest warrants against 36 current and former senior government officials, in the seven million dollar corruption case involving the country's Centre Des Equipments (National Equipment Center). The allegations spell out extensive corruption involving the illicit diversion of funding, and misappropriation of property, from the government agency.

Having provided financial crime consulting services to both Haitian banks and government, and being familiar with the culture of corruption there, and how it operates here in Miami, it is suggested that any high-value accounts held by individuals who could be paramours of wealthy Haitian PEPs should be subjected to enhanced due diligence for both Source of Funds and Source of Wealth, for among all the republics in the Western Hemisphere, Haiti has long been the biggest cesspool of abject corruption, which often spills over into North American banks who choose lucrative relationships over anti-money laundering compliance. Their excessive wealth comes from bribes, kickbacks and funds looted from government accounts, not from their tiny government salaries; Steer clear of all of them.