The Canadian government used the property of a Haitian executive for helicopter evacuations of its citizens when violence escalated there last month, even as it refused to remove him from a sanctions list, a Federal Court application says.
The Canadian government sanctioned Reynold Deeb in December 2022, along with two other “high-profile members of the economic elite in Haiti,” Global Affairs Canada said at the time.
In his latest application to the Federal Court, seeking to be removed from the sanctions list, Deeb denies any connection to the gang violence gripping the country and says he is “deeply involved in community philanthropy”.
Deeb says in the document that his “respectable nature” was evident when the RCMP and Canada’s ambassador asked him to allow them to use his property for police training exercises and helicopter evacuations of Canadian citizens early last month.
He claims he was “happy to agree” to provide assistance. But although the Canadian government turned to him “in a time of crisis,” it refused to lift sanctions against him, she says.
“It is unclear why the Government of Canada was simultaneously requiring Mr. Deeb to use his property and maintaining sanctions against him,” his application for judicial review says.
Deeb says their inclusion on Canada’s sanctions list is “erroneous,” and those sanctioned suffer “serious reputational damage,” while being denied financial services and employment opportunities, and having travel restrictions imposed.
Foreign Minister Melanie Joly said the sanctions were imposed in 2022 “in response to the egregious conduct of Haitian elites who provide illicit financial and operational support to armed gangs.”
The Canadian government accused Deeb, Gilbert Bigio and Sherif Abdallah of harboring and enabling “armed criminal gangs, including through money laundering and other acts of corruption.”
Deeb filed an application with the Federal Court of Canada in November to force the minister to make a decision on his request to be removed from the sanctions list.
Now, Deeb claims in a second application to the Federal Court filed last month that the minister denied her application for expulsion in March without disclosing her reasons “to a meaningful extent.”
The document says he is a “reputed businessman” who works as a purchasing manager for the Deka Group, a collective of companies that are the “main importers of consumer goods in Haiti.”
Canada’s ambassador asked for his help the same day the foreign minister refused to remove him from the sanctions list, his request says.
The document says the minister’s decision was based on “open source” information about his alleged bribery, tax evasion and gang financing activities.
He is also alleged to have close ties to former President Michel Martelly and sanctioned politician Gary Bodeau.
Deeb claims the minister wrongly relied on information to make the sanctions decision, denying him “procedural fairness.”
In an interview, Deeb’s lawyers, John Boscariol and Geoff Hall, said Deeb has email communications with Canadian embassy officials thanking him for using his property to organize helicopter evacuations and RCMP training exercises for police officers. Haitian police
Hall said the emails are “quite remarkable,” and show that Canadian embassy and RCMP officials were grateful and “praising” Deeb for allowing the use of his property, “which is actually against the law.” of sanctions on Canadians for using property owned by those who are sanctioned,” Hall said.
Boscariol and Hall said their client feels unfairly maligned by his inclusion on Canada’s sanctions list, alleging that Deeb has been an “ally of Canada.”
“It seems like what the government seems to have done is scoured the Internet to find any insinuations that were out there, and that’s problematic,” Hall said.
Deeb has not been sanctioned by the United States, the European Union or the United Kingdom, but being sanctioned by Canada carries a “significant impact on his reputation,” Boscariol said.
“These decisions do not appear to have been fully thought out by the Canadian government,” he said. “The government has not conducted due diligence or provided evidence to support some of the allegations they are making.”
Global Affairs Canada did not provide a requested response to Deeb’s claims by deadline.
A United Nations Security Council report by a panel of experts in Haiti released in September 2023 said it had evidence that Deeb was involved in gang financing activities while working as director of operations for the Deka Group.
The report says Deeb in 2017 “paid a gang leader to facilitate his business” and “had been using gang members to pressure some customs officials at the port not to inspect or intercept his containers.”
The report said that in late 2019, Haiti was paralyzed by economic turmoil as political pressure mounted against then-President Jovenel Moise, which Deeb allegedly took advantage of by “bribing parliamentarians who would then pay gang leaders to unlock the streets dispersing the protesters and allowing the transportation of their goods into the country.”
Deeb’s lawyers said he “wholeheartedly” denies the report’s allegations of gang financing.
“Mr. Deeb is very much the victim of a lot of this,” Boscariol said. “He is an important importer and distributor of products at the retail level throughout Haiti, but he also suffers from the gang’s activities.”
Deeb is one of 11 Haitians sanctioned by Canada for a “serious violation of international peace and security” under its Special Economic Measures (Haiti) Regulations.
Thirteen others are on the list for “acts of significant corruption” and four are on the sanctions list for “serious human rights violations.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 7, 2024.