Tampa businessman charged in conspiracy to kill Haitian president

A Tampa businessman has been arrested and charged by federal agents for participating in planning the 2021 assassination of Haiti President Jovenel Moïse.

Frederick Bergmann Jr., 64, was one of three men, all with Florida connections, arrested this week and arraigned Feb. 14 on allegations that they were part of the “planning, financing, and orchestration of the assassination.” According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Bergmann was charged with conspiracy to commit export violations, submitting false and misleading export information and smuggling ballistic vests from the U.S. to Haiti.

He faces 20 years in prison.

Moïse was killed in his Port-au-Prince home July 7, 2021. The attack has been blamed on Colombian mercenaries hired by political opponents looking to overthrow the president and install a new leader.

Bergamann and the three men arrested this week bring the total number of people charged in the plot to 11.

Arrested along with Bergmann were: Arcangel Pretel Ortiz, 50, of Miami; Antonio Intriago 59, of Miami; and Walter Veintemilla, 54, of Weston.

The others are: James Solages, 37; Joseph Vincent, 57; German Alejandro Rivera Garcia, 44; Mario Antonio Palacios, 43; Rodolphe Jaar, 49; Christian Emmanuel Sanon, 64; and Joseph Joel John, 51.

According to a statement from the U.S. Department of Justice, Ortiz, Intriago, Veintemilla, Solages, Vincent, Rivera, Palacios, Jaar and John are charged with conspiracy to provide material support and resources to a conspiracy to kidnap or kill outside the U.S. resulting in death; providing material support and resources to a conspiracy to kidnap or kill outside the U.S. resulting in death; and conspiracy to kill or kidnap a person outside the U.S.

Sanson, like Bergmann, was charged with conspiracy to commit export violations, submitting false and misleading export information and smuggling ballistic vests from the U.S. to Haiti.

According to a statement from the Justice Department, which reads like a plot outline to a Robert Ludlum novel, this is what is alleged to have happened:

Between February 2021 and July 2021, South Florida was where the planning and financing of the conspiracy to oust Moïse from power and replace him with someone “who would serve the coconspirators’ political goals and financial interests” was done.

The players included Ortiz and Intriago, who owned Counter Terrorist Unit Federal Academy and Counter Terrorist Unit Security, which are known as CTU. And Veintemilla was the principal of Worldwide Capital Lending Group. The companies are based in South Florida.

Bergmann, in Tampa, had ties to Sanon, who had Haitian and American citizenship and “held political aspirations in Haiti.”

In April 2021, Ortiz, Intriago, John, Solages and Sanon met and came up with a plan where CTU would support ousting Moïse and replacing him with Sanon. The trade-off was that once Sanon took over as president, he would award contracts for infrastructure projects in Haiti to CTU as well as procuring security forces and military-type equipment.

Veintemilla, through Worldwide, would help finance the coup by issuing a $175,000 line of credit to CTU and sending money to co-conspirators in Haiti so they could buy ammunition. Like the others, Veintemilla “expected to reap significant financial benefits” through his company once Moïse was replaced.

As the planning continued in 2021, Ortiz and Intriago, as principals of CTU, hired a group of about 20 Colombian nationals with military training to provide security for Sanon.

It was around this time, in spring 2021, that Bergmann allegedly joined as a supporter and investor, helping pay for the Colombians’ lodging in Haiti as well as working with Sanon and Intriago to ship 20 CTU-branded ballistic vests to Haiti by falsifying export documents.

According to a copy of the indictment, on May 17 Sanon signed a consultants agreement with CTU. As part of the agreement, CTU would provide ballistic vests for his private military forces in Haiti. A couple weeks later, on June 8, Intriago suggested in a message exchange with Bergmann about shipping the vests that they could be sent “as paintball protection” vests.

Bergmann, according to the indictment, replied that “I don’t think they’ll have a problem having my research company ship X-ray protective vests.”

On June 9, Bergmann sent Sanon an invoice for $1,000 for medical x-ray vests totaling a $1,000 and then signed a shipper’s letter for the export to Haiti with the false information.

He then sent a message to Sanon and Intriago letting them know that the package would arrive in Haiti the following day and to ensure “Sanon would manage the coordination and ultimate delivery of the ballistic vests to the Columbian nationals providing security.”

In June, too, the Justice Department says in the statement the “plan evolved as Ortiz, Intriago, Veintemilla and others apparently realized that Sanon had neither the constitutional qualifications nor the popular support of the Haitian people to become president.”

“They shifted their support from Sanon to a former Haitian Supreme Court judge. This new candidate contracted with CTU and Worldwide to serve the companies’ financial interests upon becoming president.”

It was at this time that the plot evolved from one where Moïse was removed from office to one where he was assassinated. This, according to the Justice Department statement, happened “after an unsuccessful effort to seize President Moïse on a return trip to Haiti and spirit him away by airplane to a location outside the country.”

Referring to charging documents, the Justice Department says Ortiz and Intriago directed the conspirators on the ground in Haiti, including Solages, a CTU representative, and the Colombian nationals who would carry out the assassination.

John, who was a former Haitian senator, and Jaar both worked to secure weapons and provided other support.

On July 6, 2021, the conspirators met at a house near Moïse’s residence. Weapons and equipment were handed out, and it was announced that the mission now was to kill Moïse.

 “On July 7, 2021,” the Justice Department says in the statement, “several individuals arrived outside President Moïse’s residence, some of whom were wearing CTU-branded ballistic vests. They entered the president’s home and killed him.”

If convicted, Ortiz, Intriago, Veintemilla, Solages, Vincent, Garcia, Palacios, Jaar and John face up to life in prison.

Bergmann, along with Sanon, faces up to 20 years if convicted.

“Haiti is no stranger to hardship and suffering. While most human beings would consider events that destroy hundreds of thousands of lives, homes, schools and infrastructure tragedies, there are others who consider them opportunities to gain money and power,” U.S. Attorney Markenzy Lapointe for the Southern District of Florida says in the statement.

“When greed and ambition lead to violations of U.S. law, we will prosecute.”