Overview:
A South Florida businessman was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison after admitting he laundered fraudulent COVID-19 relief funds that U.S. prosecutors said helped finance the conspiracy to assassinate Haitian President Jovenel Moïse. Keegan Harricharan is among several defendants prosecuted in the United States in connection with the July 7, 2021, assassination.
MIAMI — A South Florida businessman linked to the conspiracy that led to the assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison after admitting he laundered hundreds of thousands of dollars in fraudulently obtained COVID-19 relief funds used to help finance the plot.
U.S. District Judge Jacqueline Becerra sentenced Keegan Harricharan, 42, of Coral Springs, Florida, after he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida.
“This case is a stark reminder that financial crime is often the engine behind far more dangerous conduct,” U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones for the Southern District of Florida said, announcing the sentence on July 23.
“This defendant did not simply commit fraud. He exploited pandemic relief programs meant to keep small businesses alive during a national crisis and laundered those stolen taxpayer funds to help advance a conspiracy that ended in the assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moise,” the prosecutor added.
Federal prosecutors said Harricharan helped move hundreds of thousands of dollars obtained through fraudulent Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) applications. Investigators said part of that money was used to finance meetings, logistics and other preparations for the plot that culminated in Moïse’s assassination on July 7, 2021.
Court records show that Harricharan worked with several co-conspirators, including Antonio Intriago, Walter Veintemilla, Arcangel Pretel Ortiz, James Solages, Christian Emmanuel Sanon and Jacob Israel, to channel money through his company, TNR Holding Group Inc.
Between May and June 2021, prosecutors said Harricharan transferred approximately $255,000 in fraud proceeds and other funds to Veintemilla, who then distributed the money to other members of the conspiracy.
Authorities said the funds helped support planning meetings in South Florida where conspirators discussed removing Moïse from power and obtaining weapons, ammunition, personnel and military equipment for the operation.
Weeks later, a team of mostly Colombian mercenaries stormed Moïse’s private residence in Haiti’s capital Port-au-Prince, fatally shooting the president and seriously wounding First Lady Martine Moïse.
US case advances while Haiti’s investigation remains stalled
Harricharan’s sentence is the latest milestone in the U.S. prosecution of people accused of financing or organizing the assassination.
In May, a federal jury convicted Antonio Intriago, Walter Veintemilla, Arcangel Pretel Ortiz and James Solages after a nine-week trial. Christian Emmanuel Sanon, the Haitian American pastor and physician prosecutors describe as a central figure in the conspiracy, is scheduled to stand trial later this year. Another defendant, Israel, previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering and is expected to be sentenced in December.
While U.S. prosecutors have secured multiple guilty pleas, convictions and lengthy prison sentences, Haiti’s judicial process has largely stalled.
Nearly five years after Moïse’s assassination, no trial has been held in Haiti and no final judgment has been issued. The investigation has passed through five investigating judges since 2021, and the only indictment issued by Haitian authorities was later overturned by the Port-au-Prince Court of Appeal, requiring parts of the investigation to begin again.
Moïse’s killing plunged Haiti deeper into political instability and accelerated gang violence, leaving the country without an elected president and extending a political transition that has yet to produce national elections.
The investigation was led by the FBI’s Miami Field Office and Homeland Security Investigations. Federal prosecutors said they will continue pursuing others accused of financing or supporting the conspiracy.
