Scam

Here are the FIFA officials involved stealing $750,000 meant for Haiti earthquake. Jack Warner, Jeffrey Webb, Alfredo Hawit and Juan Angel Napout.

Jack Warner, a former FIFA Executive Committee member, and President of CONCACAF until his suspension and eventual resignation in 2011, and his successor Jeffrey Webb from Cayman Islands, have been accused of misappropriating money amounting around £500,000 ($750,000) intended to help the 2010 Haiti earthquake victims. Jack Warner is a Trinidad and Tobago politician and businessman. Jack Warner and Jeffrey Webb have committed many and various acts of misconduct repeatedly and have pleaded guilty to seven charges. As per US attorney general Loretta Lynch, their extent of betrayal is truly outrageous. Jeffrey Webb was arrested in last May, but he is out on bail. On May 27th, Jack Warner also surrendered himself to police in his native Trinidad, but after spending a night in custody, was later released on bail. Two more FIFA officials, Alfredo Hawit (Honduras) and Juan Angel Napout (Paraguay), were arrested on December 3, 2015, in a widening bribery case during a pre-dawn raid at the Baur au Lac hotel in Zurich on suspicion "of accepting bribes of millions of dollars". This was the second raid in this downtown Zurich hotel after May 27, 2015, that sparked the FIFA corruption crisis.

As per news sources, the US Justice Department has filed charges on bribes and kickbacks against 16 FIFA officials amounting £130 million ($200 million) following an investigation by the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation Division (IRS-CI). Danny Jordaan, the Mayor of Port Elizabeth, as well as president of the South African Football Association, once admitted of paying $10 million to a football body led by Jack Warner in 2008 for hosting the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

FIFA has officially confirmed the allegation that Warner, who is presently fighting extradition from Trinidad to the USA, has diverted a fund of $750,000 provided by FIFA and the Korean Football Association intended for victims of the 2010 Haiti earthquake.

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New US Visas and scholarships scam targeting Haitians. On February 22, 2016, a note of caution has been issued by the US Embassy in Haiti alerting the Haitian people who are seeking U.S visa or intend to apply for U.S scholarship over the internet. A group of racketeers using Sophia Martelly's name, is falsely claiming that they can arrange both. They are using the following email addresses: (i) ambassadeamericaine.haiti@yahoo.com; (ii) unmaria51@gmail.com, with a point of contact named Samuel at +509-3990-6218 and an accountant named Evelia Jean Charles. The note issued advises people to stay away from these racketeers and every aspiring individual must know that the US Embassy never authorize any person or group to arrange US visa or scholarship. The only way to get them is through a direct contact and application to the US Embassy.

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Here is the picture of the Haitian Artist Jean Losier. He was caught creating counterfeit bills in his studio.

Artist Jean Losier has been charged with running a counterfeit operation. Between 2008-2014 he printed bills in $50 and $100 denominations. His method was to bleach $1 bills and superimpose $50 and $100 onto them.

Over six years Losier made more than $4.7 million. The phony bills have circulated in and outside the U.S.

He may spend up to 20 years in prison. Presently he is serving five years on a prior counterfeit charge.

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The ongoing problem of embezzlement of PSUGO funds by school administrators in Haiti

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There has been an ongoing issues of fraud with Haitians applying for visa in the U.S. ant the American government wants to bring the attention of the Haitian public to this crisis. The anti-fraud department for the agency responsible for dealing with such issues has reported recently to have recorded an alarming record of about 11,000 cases of fraud by Haitians in applying for U.S. Visas.

On May 17, with the alarming rate of visa assistance and application frauds, Robert Hannan, the US Consul General in Haiti has described the right process for applying and procuring U.S visa. There were about 11,000 instances of visa applications where the applicants have given wrong information about their family, financial and professional backgrounds. Mr. Hannan has urged every applicant to provide only truthful information. The U.S department has informed every applicant to contact directly at the US Embassy for every visa update; the department does not authorize any intermediary person or authority in visa assistance service. Visa application fees are to be deposited directly to the SogeXpress only and another at the US Embassy in exchange of the visa.

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Here is a picture of Mayor Lucie Tondreau before her arrest by FBI for mortgage fraud. She was the first Haitian-American woman to hold the position. She has been a Haitian activist in the Haitian community in Miami for several years

Her three other co-conspirators were Karl Oreste, Marie Okechukwu Josiah and Kelly Augustin.

Oreste used to identify residential properties in South Florida that were open to sale. Oreste and Tondreau advertised the unique services offered by KMC Mortgage. They recruited some paid individuals who posed as the borrowers of KMC Mortgage. The conspirators prepared loan applications for these straw borrowers with false information which were submitted to various mortgage lenders throughout the United States. Once these loan applications were approved, the lenders wired loan funds to O.J. Odunna, and other title companies for closing. The conspirators created and submitted several duplicate HUD-1 Settlement Statement Forms where the price of the property was grossly inflated and it represented many false cash and down payments of earlier loans by the straw borrowers to close obligations which they never made. The disbursed portion of the loan amount was channelled through Oreste's corporation to the conspirators' bank and other accounts. A substantial portion of the funds went to Tondreau's bank accounts of the LTO Investment Corporation. It has been estimated that the lenders have suffered a loss amounting around $8 million. If convicted, the conspirators may face a maximum term of 30 years in prison.

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Frantz St. Fleur a resident in Toronto Canada, wants to teach his real estate broker and the police they will never forget. He is currently suing them for racial profiling

Toronto man Frantz St. Fleur alleges he was a victim of racial profiling in the case of his April arrest for fraud after trying to cash a check at his long-time bank. St. Fleur went into the Scotiabank branch he'd used for ten years to cash what he says was a refund check of $9,000 for a condo deposit, as the development project had fallen through. He was questioned in a private office before being left there for the police to arrive and arrest him. St. Fleur now sues the police, his real estate broker, and the bank for $250,000.

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Here is a picture of Ms. Lucie Tondreau, the former North Miami Mayor. She is charged for participating in an $11 million mortgage fraud scheme.If convicted, Ms. Tondreau could spend up to 30 years in prison

Disgraced and ousted former Mayor of North Miami Lucie Tondreau is set to begin trial for fraud shortly. The jury selection has begun for a group of Ms. Tondreau's peers who will decide whether she was guilty of being part of a mortgage scheme that defrauded some $11 million or not. If convicted, the suspended mayor could spend up to 30 years in prison. While Karl Oreste, her business partner, has pled guilty, Tondreau turned in a plea of not guilty for the charges.

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Here is a picture of North Miami Mayor Marie Lucie Tondreau on May 20, 2014 as she was indicted on Mortgage Fraud. According to the allegation, North Miami Mayor Lucie Tondreau allegedly, with the complicity of three others used false information to get loans on twenty properties at the pic of the housing boom. She worked with Karl Oreste, O.J. Odunna and Kelly Augustin.

It was also reported that Tondreau used some of that money to open in investment account, money she used later for her personal use.

Lucie Tondreau was in an official business for the city on Monday as the FBI agents came to arrest her at her home. On Tuesday, as she arrived in town, she turned herself in to the authorities.

According to Ms. Tondreau, she think this is a huge mistake and she said that she will have more to say after talking to her attorney

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The Haitian government and different international aid organizations are competing with each other for past few years to reconstruct the dwelling units for the 1.5 million earthquake affected people living in camps, but that attempts have been greatly impeded by the country's weak land administration systems and the resulting disputes over land and property--who owns the land? Land registry problems in Haiti can be traced back to its days of independence since 1804. A practically non-existent land registration system, unclear processes for land transfer and fraudulent land titles are delaying the reconstruction efforts. The catastrophic earthquake has made land claims more complicated. After close to 250,000 deaths, the issues of inheritance are raising a number of questions. Is the owner alive or dead? If he is dead who is the right successor? Certain people returning to their homes have found that it have been occupied by someone else. The earthquake has brought to the light a long standing problem. Literally no one ever had the correct answer for how you buy and sell property in Haiti. The transfer of a land title involves the central tax authority, surveyors and notaries. To avoid related expenses and bureaucracy most land is transferred orally from one generation to the next. Lack of governance and non-existent judicial protection makes enforcement of title difficult. As per United Nations report, less than 5% of land in Haiti is officially accounted for in public land records.

Before the earthquake, the Organization of American States had decided to spend $70 million over a period of seven years to put it in an orderly system as a prerequisite for development of the country. However, at present, the humanitarian agencies and the government have to redouble their efforts to solve the problems of land ownerships. There should be some immediate clear directives, national policy and supports from the local law enforcement authorities, to construct residential units on disputed lands.

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