Overview:
Haiti’s Anti-Corruption Unit (ULCC) accuses Sports Minister Niola Lynn Sarah Devalien Octavius of embezzling $76,000 in state funds meant for national celebrations. Six other new ULCC reports reveal fuel theft, ghost jobs, and mismanagement across state agencies, a public university, and Ouanaminthe’s markets.
PORT-AU-PRINCE — Haiti’s Anti-Corruption Unit (ULCC) has asked the judiciary to prosecute the current Minister of Youth, Sports, and Civic Action (MJSAC), Niola Lynn Sarah Devalien Octavius, for embezzlement of public funds and property, abuse of office, and criminal conspiracy.
The charges are part of a broader pattern of entrenched corruption in Haitian public institutions. In just one week, the country’s anti-corruption watchdog submitted seven new reports outlining fuel theft, embezzlement, ghost jobs, and forged contracts across ministries, a public university, and local markets. Despite repeated findings and referrals, few officials have ever been held accountable — fueling public frustration with a system many see as broken.
According to a ULCC report published Sept. 26, Octavius and close associates diverted more than 10 million gourdes — about US $76,923 — earmarked for the commemoration of the Battle of Vertières on Nov. 18, 2024.
Investigators describe an extensive scheme involving the minister and several close associates. They say Octavius conspired with her brother, Jean Vilaire Maître, who serves as her security chief, and the ministry’s chief accountant, Ludner Vogel Desforges, to misappropriate the state funds.
The report found that two million gourdes (US $15,385) were deposited into Octavius’s personal account, while her brother withdrew 7.66 million gourdes (US $58,923) without justification. The accountant was also cited for attempted embezzlement and conspiracy to commit a crime.
“Such conduct constitutes a clear case of misappropriation of public property. In this regard, Minister Octavius must be prosecuted in accordance with Article 5.4 of the March 12, 2014 law.”
ULCC investigators
The ULCC report states that Octavius bypassed legal procedures by ordering the Ministry of Economy and Finance, through Ketleen Florestal, to issue a check in Desforges’s name. That check was later deposited into a private account at the National Credit Bank (BNC). WhatsApp exchanges between the minister and her brother, recorded by a justice of the peace, confirmed the illicit transfers.
“Such conduct constitutes a clear case of misappropriation of public property. In this regard, Minister Octavius must be prosecuted in accordance with Article 5.4 of the March 12, 2014 law,” ULCC investigators wrote.
Despite the growing number of corruption reports—63 under Director Hans Ludwig Joseph in the last five years—the ULCC says only two cases have ever led to convictions. Most stall in court, leaving a trail of unanswered referrals since the agency’s founding in 2004.
At a Pétion-Ville fair, ULCC blends arts, debates and culture to rally young Haitians against corruption
Fuel siphoned from the Solid Waste agency
Another of the ULCC’s latest reports scrutinized fuel use at the National Solid Waste Management Service (SNGRS) between December 2021 and April 2024. The agency spent 228 million gourdes (US $1.7 million) on 396,849 gallons of diesel from the Enterprise Legacy Distribution, a private company supplying fuel to SNGRS. Yet only 199,349 gallons — less than half of the total — could be accounted for.
According to investigators, 197,499 gallons of fuel, valued at 125 million gourdes (US $961,241), were misappropriated by Director-General Germain Paulémon and Deputy Director-General Max Alex Joseph, with the complicity of the agency’s budget director, Bibiana Bélizaire. During the hearings, both top officials admitted to diverting the fuel for personal use, for employees, and even for outsiders.
“They knowingly engaged in the embezzlement of fuel, distributing it to employees of the institution, to outsiders, and also for their personal use,” the ULCC concluded.
Ghost jobs at a public university
The ULCC also investigated the Public University of the Lower Artibonite in Saint-Marc (UPBAS) for corruption between 2021 and 2025. The inquiry uncovered a web of ghost jobs, fraudulent contracts, falsified invoices, and misused salaries involving Rector Wilfrid Azarre and former administrator Jean Éros Bayard III Vincent.
Investigators determined that the university received 32.87 million gourdes (US $252,846) in state funding during that period. Of that, 22.57 million gourdes (US $173,615) were properly accounted for, while 10.29 million gourdes (US $79,154) were either embezzled or remain unaccounted for.
Among the alleged accomplices are bank cashier Yves Donis and several internal officials. The ULCC has recommended charges including forgery of public documents, abuse of office, criminal conspiracy, and embezzlement of public property.
Former Haitian television chief arrested
One of those earlier investigations has already resulted in the arrest of former Director General Gamall Jules Augustin on Sept.23. Three days after his detention and transfer to Delmas 33 prison, the ULCC released a report detailing corruption schemes involving the former National Television of Haiti (TNH) Director. He is accused of abusing his office, falsifying documents, and embezzling nearly 6 million gourdes (US $46,154) meant for employee debit cards.
Investigators also allege that Augustin mismanaged more than 175 million gourdes (US $1.35 million) allocated for fuel purchases between 2016 and 2025, diverting resources to non-operational TNH sites. He further used TNH to obtain a NATCOM contract for his private residence and to benefit his own TV station.
The arrest of former director Gamall Jules Augustin adds to the long list of corruption cases pursued by Haiti’s Anti-Corruption Unit (ULCC) since 2004
Millions lost in Ouanaminthe
Three other reports centered on Ouanaminthe, where investigators documented widespread mismanagement across major projects. ULCC Investigators traced more than 66 million gourdes — over US $500,000 — lost across three projects: the Place d’Armes rehabilitation, the municipal market, and the border market. Officials already jailed or under scrutiny allegedly misused funds, forged signatures, and even allocated stalls to themselves. The ULCC recommends prosecution and a full municipal audit.
A government commissioner ordered four officials arrested Sept. 16 held in custody while an investigating judge takes up the corruption case stemming from a ULCC investigation
With these new reports filed in just one week, the ULCC is pressing the courts to act on what it says is an entrenched culture of theft in public institutions.
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