Boston: Haitian Scam Artists Step In
 More than 90 Local Phony Charities

  In Dorchester, it happens after every high-profile tragedy in Haiti.  Fake charity scams emerge from nowhere to capitalize on the good faith and generosity of donors who desire to assist people in difficulty.  Last week, Hurricane Jeanne landed in Gonaives, Haiti, and left behind 1500 deaths with thousands missing in the muddy floodwater, the city is totally ruined by the natural disaster. Once again, the best-known swindlers of the so-called Boston-based Haitian private non-profit agencies are already on stage and trying to cash in on the tragedy of the victims of Gonaives.

Just days after the tragedy, while the community is grieving the loss of their friends and loved ones, last Saturday Pierre Imbert, a very controversial figure in the Haitian community and his associates announced their newly created bogus non-profit called “Haiti’s Emergency Relief Fund” . During the announcement Imbert  bragged about his personal relationship with State Representative Marie St- Fleur as a facade to boost his muddled reputation.  We believe that the community at large should beware of this phony relief fund.

    Despite their political connections and personal acquaintance with some local elected officials, the credibility and character of these self-proclaimed leaders put the Haitian community at stake because of their ambiguous organizations and their refusal to release any details about their management of public funds. If in the eyes of the local politicians, these non-profits agencies represent an asset - for the perception of most Haitians they are in fact a total disaster and a sober dilemma.

   Pierre Imbert is currently under the scrutiny of local Haitian media for arrogantly refusing to release any information to straighten the record on numerous public allegations relating to his mismanagement and swindling of non-profit funding allocated to the Haitian Multi-Service Center and the SEED of Haiti.

   Last week, the Haitian Multi-Service Center was reportedly burglarized on 5 consecutive nights.  According to a law enforcement source and in the perception of many concerned citizens, the burglary seemed to have been perpetrated by internal actors. So far, the Haitian Multi-Service Center has kept the information relative to this unusual crime a secret, although the HMSC has received millions of taxpayers’ dollars over the years.

   At this present time, the participation of Pierre Imbert or any senior member of his organization in the Haiti Emergency Relief Fund is a mockery and a challenge to all members of the community and proof that honesty and integrity is not a priority among the leaders of the Boston-based non-profit Haitian organizations.

   Boston’s Haitian leaders seem to show patriotism only when tragic events happen in Haiti. Patriotism must be a sentiment that a citizen shows every day toward his home country and his birth nation. Haiti is a very deprived nation that needs strong and true commitment of its natives and long-term structural relief efforts.

   The lack of, or no government control and the wide spread corruption in most of Haiti’s institutions allows Boston’s scam artist wing to easily manipulate the system, and swindle money in the name of emergency rescue relief. The fact that a check is endorsed and sent to Haiti does not mean that later most of the funds will not return here to buy luxurious cars and homes in the affluent neighborhoods of Wesley, Canton, Hingham and Milton.

  "These frauds are typical of the way crooks take advantage of tragic events for their personal gain," says National Fire Information Council (NFIC) director Susan Grant.  The NFIC dealt with numerous fraudulent organizations collecting funds on behalf of fallen firefighters after September 11^th.

   In the Haitian community, Pierre Imbert is described as a carbon copy or prototype of the corrupted officials that led Haiti to chaos.   As a result of Imbert’s declining character and credibility, more recently all of the board members and at least two of his closest deputies at the HMSC have resigned to dissociate themselves from Imbert’s unprofessional conduct and have created another Haitian Multi Service Center in Dorchester with hopes to continue to serve the purpose of assisting new Haitian immigrants and provide them with skills and basic knowledge through a smoothed integration in their new American life.  Imbert’s new Relief Fund is a challenge to honesty and integrity, and left the Haitian community with the impression that the ghost of corruption and impunity are following them as far as Boston.  Furthermore, the attitudes and the disregard of some elected officials and other leaders of Haitian agencies create an outcry among the citizens of the Haitian community of Boston. 

Background Information

Haitians in Boston are afraid that Imbert’s latest creation is another stint to raise funds to finance further violent activities in Haiti, noting that Pierre is a founder and board member of  “SEED Haiti”. This organization raised nearly 3 million dollars, allegedly to assist the farmers of Plateau Central, Haiti. The funds were in fact funneled to Chavane Jean-Baptiste to finance the violent rebellion that killed thousands of Haitians, among them women and children, and forced the elected president Jean Bertrand Aristide to leave the country.

A few months ago, the Haitian media discovered that Imbert’s former girlfriend, who resides in Canada, had continued to receive payments from the Dept. Transitional Assistance for years. Each week Imbert ordered his deputy to fill and sign a legal document stating that his "sweet heart" volunteered 10-15 hours at the Center; when the news was publicized, to spare Imbert’s position and to avoid criminal prosecution, one of Imbert’s loyal employees took responsibility for the crime and resigned, so giving up all of his benefits and other compensation accumulated during 20 years of employment.

Another senior employee of the Haitian Multi-Service Center resigned after Pierre Imbert used funds donated by the City of Boston for an ESL program to give fringe benefits to his supporters and to buy off local media.

Pierre Imbert has not yet been held accountable for fraud due to language barriers, which has caused an isolation of the Haitian community.  Another factor is the incompetence and the lack of resources of the authorities in charge to investigate his management of public and non-profit funding.

In this exceptional time, parents and family members of the victims come together in a local church in Medford, Mass. to offer their raining days saving to help their homeland and to work with credible organizations such as Oxfarm, Uk, The United Nations, The International Red Cross and the Haitian Red Cross to give a helping hand to the residents of Gonaives.

Donations to the victims may be made to:

Account Name: CCIH, Haitian Red Cross, Gonaives

Unibank Account Number:  101-1012-563860

Corresponding Bank: Bank of America     Account Number:  1901 8 92336

ABA/ Routing:  066007681

Jacques Dady Jean, CEO of Town Computer, hosts a weekly talk show on WNTN, 1550 AM, Newton, MA and is the Chairman of the Haitian American Political Action Committee. He may be contacted at Jacques@towncomputer.com or 617-828-6316. 

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