The Haiti File

THE HAITI FILE
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Mary O'Grady]
[Commentary] The Federal Communications Commission has apparently lost a file pertinent to two civil law suits. The file is the record of which U.S. telecom companies that did business with the government of former Haitian President Jean Bertrand Aristide actually complied with U.S. law by submitting their contracts to the FCC. The case alleges that President Aristide took bribes from U.S. telecom carriers doing business in his country. The alleged quid pro quo for the U.S. companies that agreed to pay the bribes was access to the Teleco network at rates below the uniform "international settlement rate" set by the FCC. Two different long-distance suppliers have said that Teleco officials offered them just such a special rate in exchange for payment made to specially designated accounts. If the allegations are true, it would mean that the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act was violated, right under the nose of the FCC and the Department of Justice, during Democratic and Republican administrations. It would also mean that while Haitians were placing their trust in Uncle Sam to help them construct a democracy, millions of dollars that might have gone to building an infrastructure were siphoned off by a corrupt tyrant and U.S. business partners with friends in high places.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB117124344952105351.html?mod=todays_us_op...
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