BNC-CPT Saga: Pierre-Louis and his board dismissed by Haitian Prime Minister Conille

PORT-AU-PRINCE — Raoul Pascal Pierre-Louis, president of Haiti’s National Bank of Credit (BNC), was dismissed from his position by Haitian Prime Minister Garry Conille. The Prime Minister’s Office officially informed Pierre-Louis of the transition government’s decision to let him go in a  letter dated Aug. 8. The firing of the BNC chairman occurred two weeks after he claimed to be the subject of a 100 million gourde (approximately USD $758,000) extortion attempt by presidential councilors Louis Gérald Gilles, Smith Augustin, and Emmanuel Vertilaire.

Conille did not apparently wait for the conclusion of an  investigation into the matter led by the Anti-Corruption Unit (ULCC) to terminate Pierre-Louis. The BNC chairman was heard by ULCC investigators on Aug. 5, and three days later, he was dismissed from his position. However, the government has not specified if this decision was motivated by what was revealed during Pierre-Louis’ hearing or other substantiated information about the allegations.

“It has been decided to terminate your duties as chairman of the Board of Directors of the BNC,” states the letter signed by the prime minister, head of the transition government.

Pierre-Louis, now a former senior government official, has not yet been replaced. However, everything indicates that a new interim board may be installed as soon as Tuesday in accordance with what was asked of Haiti’s central bank, the Bank of the Republic of Haiti (BRH) — the regulator of the country’s financial sytem. The government has instructed the BRH governing body to take the necessary measures to fill the void at the BNC while waiting for a new board to be appointed and installed.

“I hereby inform you that by decision of the government, the regulator of the financial system, which is the Bank of the Republic of Haiti (BRH), has been asked to set up a management committee at the National Bank of Credit (BNC), pending the appointment and installation of a new Board of Directors,” reads the first paragraph of the letter.

Woe to the man who caused the scandal

For the moment, it is completely unclear. Haitians are in the dark about the allegations of bribery against the three Transitional Presidential Council (CPT) members. Has  this actually happened or is it a baseless accusation, as the accused put it, attempting to tarnish their image? Is anyone’s guess. What is certain is that two of the three accused presidential councilors have demanded evidence of their involvement in this affair. To date, no evidence has been brought to light. But the suspicion of corruption remains, and the first to lose his job is the whistleblower.

It is as if to say, woe to the man who caused the scandal. Pierre-Louis seems to be paying a high price. However, he is not the only one in this saga. Several political groups, including those with representatives at CPT, are demanding precautionary measures against Gilles, Augustin, and Vertilaire. 

Indeed, in a letter addressed to the president of the CPT, Edgar Leblanc Fils, the monitoring office of the Agreement of August 30, 2021, also known as the Montana Agreement, and the Collective of Political Parties of January 30 have taken the lead and asked the president of the CPT to act in this direction.

“This measure will allow justice to serenely follow its course, restore the confidence of the Haitian people in the presidency, symbolized today by the Presidential Transitional Council, and guarantee the success of the transition,” they wrote.

These two political groups also demand that the competent authorities conduct an internal investigation to prevent other acts of corruption within the council and the transitional government. They demand actionsaiming at fighting impunity by cracking down on the perpetrators and co-perpetrators of acts of corruption in the public administration.

The saga involving the now former president of the BNC and the three CPT members is likely to drag on. It won’t end just with the dismissal of Pierre-Louis, some said. For starters, the scandal became public on July 24, when the BNC chairman informed Prime Minister Conille that the three councilors demanded money from him as a bribe to keep him in his position. Since then, Pierre-Louis has been summoned by some of the accused parties, but he has not responded to any despite threats of legal action against him.

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