An anti-corruption agency in Haiti on Wednesday accused three members of the country's transitional presidential council of bribery in a scathing report that threatens to destabilise the country's fragile political stability.
Smith Augustin, Emmanuel Vertilaire and Louis Gérald Gilles are accused of demanding more than $750,000 from the director of the government-owned National Bank of Credit to secure his job.
The agency said Mr. Gilles organised a meeting among the council members, the former bank director, Raoul Pascal Pierre-Louis, and Haitian consul Lonick Leandre at the Royal Oasis Hotel in the capital of Port-au-Prince, where the demand was made.
It also accused Mr. Leandre of accepting bribes.
After the meeting, Mr. Pierre-Louis mentioned the demand to several officials, including Prime Minister Garry Conille and a judge.
According to the report, Mr. Pierre-Louis proposed to arrange loans or lines of credit after he was unable to come up with the more than $750,000.
Authorities said four lines of credit were soon arranged, three of them up to $20,000 each for the council members accused, and a fourth up to $13,500 for Mr. Leandre.
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