According to Miami Herald News:
The father of a former Haitian official who has implicated ex-President Jean-Bertrand Aristide in a U.S. bribery probe was fatally shot in the mouth in the capital of Port-au-Prince, Haiti’s national police said Wednesday. Venel Joseph, the former governor of Haiti’s Central Bank during the Aristide administration from 2001-04, was killed by gunmen Tuesday evening while in a vehicle with another man. He was the father of Patrick Joseph, former director general of the state-owned telecommunications company, Haiti Teleco.
The shooting occurred two days after The Miami Herald reported that Patrick Joseph, 50, had cut a cooperation deal with the Justice Department in a bribery investigation of former Haiti Teleco officials and Miami-based companies. The Miami firms are suspected of paying bribes to executives of Teleco to secure lower long-distance phone rates.
Patrick Joseph pleaded guilty last month to a money-laundering conspiracy charge as part of his cooperation deal, agreeing to testify about millions of dollars in alleged bribes he shared with Aristide and other senior officials, according to legal sources familiar with the probe. he killing of Joseph’s father in a car by two gunmen on motorcycles sparked rumors in the Haitian media and blogosphere about who wanted him dead — and why…. Continue Reading Here
