By AVA TURNQUEST
Tribune Chief Reporter
aturnquest@tribunemedia.net
COURT documents detailing a two-year FBI sting operation into US visa fraud in Nassau name deceased activist Pierre Parisien as being involved in the scheme.
Parisien was named by Haitian national Edna St Fleur, who is facing charges of conspiracy and visa fraud alongside three other Haitian nationals and a Bahamian woman. Parisien died earlier this year. He was president of the Haitian Organisation for the Prevention of HIV/AIDS & STDs (HOPHAS), a local non-governmental organisation.
St Fleur was issued a B1/B2 visa after falsely claiming to be a Red Cross peer educator on HIV/AIDS issues in 2016, but the visa was later cancelled in October 2017 after she could not satisfy questions placed by US Customs and Border Protection (USCBP) officers on two separate attempts to enter the US.
She claimed she paid Parisien $2,500 and that money was shared with a business partner and a US embassy employee who assisted with obtaining the visa.
According to an affidavit sworn by FBI agent Kevin Gounaud, the USCBP officers were not aware of the FBI operation at the time.
The FBI’s undercover operation targeted Edward Israel Saintil; however they were tipped off by an informant, confidential human source 1 (CHS-1) who was told by St Fleur about the alleged scheme.
“In October 2016, the FBI and the Department of State Office of the Inspector General (DOS-OIG) initiated a joint investigation of foreign nationals fraudulently obtaining visitor visas from the United States Embassy in Nassau, The Bahamas,” the affidavit read.
“Saintil came to the attention of law enforcement through another subject of the investigation, Edna St Fleur. As discussed further below, Saintil provided fraudulent documentation to St Fleur to facilitate her attempted illegal entry into the United States.”
It continued: “CHS-1 advised the FBI that CHS-1 learned from St Fleur, a Haitian citizen and resident of the Bahamas, that St Fleur had paid a man named Pierre Parisien, a Haitian national residing in the Bahamas, to fraudulently obtain a United States visa for her.
“St Fleur told CHS-1 that she provided $2,500 to Parisien, which Parisien shared with his business partner and an embassy employee who assisted Parisien in obtaining the visa.”
Mr Gounaud noted US law enforcement searched the Bahamas Red Cross website archives and social media but did not find reference of St Fleur. He noted Parisien died in February from an unspecified medical illness.
On her visa application filed on August 29, 2016, St Fleur claimed to be traveling as part of a Bahamian group on September 16, 2016, with intent only to transit the US on her way to Trinidad.
St Fleur was granted a multi-level visa but did not travel on the date listed on her application, instead she traveled to Ft Lauderdale in December and stayed for a week before returning to Nassau.
She reportedly spoke with CHS-1 during this trip.
St Fleur attempted to enter the US again on July 20, 2017 but provided contradictory information when she was questioned by two USCBP officers.
“St Fleur indicated in her first interview that she was not employed,” the affidavit read.
“During a second interview by a different USCBP officer, St Fleur first stated that she was unemployed, but used to work at the embassy until she was fired five months earlier. In fact, St Fleur has never worked at the embassy. Upon further questioning, St Fleur then stated she worked as a bartender in Nassau. At no time did she claim to work for or have worked for the Bahamas Red Cross.”
St Fleur also did not have a return ticket, and was turned away by officers and told if she wanted to travel she would need “to more clearly demonstrate her reason for travel, provide documentation demonstrating her ties to the Bahamas, and provide evidence of her financial solvency.”
In a September 2017 recording, St Fleur told the FBI informant she was planning to travel to the US again and had agreed to pay an unnamed person $1,600 to obtain a Bahamian work permit. In another recording on October 10, 2017, St Fleur stated she wanted to “settle” in the United States, adding she would travel with the man she had paid for employment papers.
She attempted to enter the US on October 13, 2017.
This time, she produced a work permit as a general worker sponsored by Saintil.
The affidavit read: “St Fleur stated that her boss, Saintil, had purchased her airline ticket and that she was traveling to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, with Saintil to purchase clothes to sell at Saintil’s apparel shop in Nassau.
“When questioned,” it continued, “St Fleur did not know the name of the shop where she purportedly worked and could not produce pay stubs. As proof of her employment in the Bahamas, St Fleur provided a Bahamian work visa indicating that she was a ‘general worker’ sponsored by Saintil.”
Haitian nationals Kevin Desir, Johnlee Paul, and an unnamed co-conspirator, along with Bahamian Pauline Pratt - alias Polena Sharmaine Pratt and Pauline Johnson - are also facing charges of conspiracy and visa fraud.
Pratt and the co-conspirator are accused of seeking to unlawfully enrich themselves by fraudulently obtaining visitor visas for individuals to enter the US.
The FBI paid three Haitian nationals (CHS 1, 2, and 3) just under $50,000 to participate in the undercover operation.
Up to September, CHS-1 has been paid $26,851 for his assistance, include lost earnings and travel meals and accommodations.
CHS-2 is a US citizen, who was born in Haiti and immigrated to the US in April 2008, and who had previously worked with the FBI.
In March 2017, CHS-2 acted as a Haitian citizen attempting to get a US visa from the embassy with intention to illegally immigrate to the US.
CHS-2 was paid 17,920 for their assistance.
CHS-3 is a Haitian citizen living in Haiti, and was recruited by the FBI specifically for the investigation. According to Mr Gounaud, CHS-1 informed law enforcement he had only recently learned CHS-3 was his son - after CHS-3 had already agreed to participate in the operation. CHS-3 was paid $4,200 and traveled from Haiti to the Bahamas for the investigation.
The US government has reportedly begun the process of applying for an S visa for CHS-3, which is available to individuals who assisted law enforcement as a witness for informant.
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