US indicts Haitian gang leader “Barbecue” Cherizier, offers $5 million reward for his arrest » Capital News

NAIROBI, Kenya Aug 12 – The US government is now offering a reward of up to $5million for information leading to the arrest and/or conviction of Haitian gang leader Jimmy Cherizier alias Barbecue.

A statement from the US Department of Justice noted that Cherizier had been sanctioned in 2020 because he was responsible for an ongoing campaign of violence, including the 2018 La Saline massacre, in which 71 people were killed, more than 400 houses were destroyed, and at least seven women raped by armed gangs.

“There’s a good reason that there’s a $5 million reward for information leading to Cherizier’s arrest. He’s a gang leader responsible for heinous human rights abuses, including violence against American citizens in Haiti,” said U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro for the District of Columbia.

The DoJ established Cherizier and Richardson directly solicited money transfers from members of the Haitian diaspora located in the United States. After sending funds to intermediaries in Haiti for Cherizier’s benefit, the U.S. and Haitian co-conspirators would send Cherizier images of receipts from the money transfers.

Cherizier used these funds principally to pay salaries to the members of his gang and to acquire firearms from illicit firearms dealers in Haiti.

A U.S. District Court further indicted Bazile Richardson, also known as Fredo, Fred Lion, Leo Danger, and Lepe Blode, 48, a naturalized U.S. citizen, with leading a conspiracy to transfer funds from the United States to Cherizier to fund his gang activities in Haiti in violation of the U.S sanctions imposed on Cherizier.

“Cherizier and a U.S. associate sought to raise funds in the United States to bankroll Cherizier’s violent criminal enterprise, which is driving a security crisis in Haiti,” said Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg.

“The National Security Division does not tolerate criminal gang fundraising in the United States, and will continue to pursue those who enable Haiti’s violence and instability,” Judge Pirro added in a statement.

She stated that the U.S. Attorney’s office is committed to apprehending Cherizier and bringing him to justice, along with individuals like defendant Richardson, who has sent money and other support to Cherizier from the United States in violation of U.S. sanctions.

According to court documents, Cherizier is a former officer in the Haitian National Police and the leader of a gang known as the Revolutionary Forces of the G9 Family and Allies who helped to forge a gang alliance called Viv Ansanm that united Haiti’s many criminal gangs to oppose the legitimate government of Haiti.

On Dec. 10, 2020, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned Cherizier and designated him as a Specially Designated National (SDN) for his role in serious human rights abuses in Haiti.As a result of the SDN designation, U.S. persons are generally prohibited from engaging in transactions with or for the benefit of Cherizier absent approval from OFAC in the form of a license.