Tampa businessman charged in Haitian president assassination

A South Tampa businessman was among four Florida residents arrested for their alleged roles in the July 2021 assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse.

Driving the news: Frederick Bergmann Jr., 64, a licensed CPA whom property and corporate records show owns and works from a home in Palma Ceia, is accused of smuggling 20 ballistic vests to hired Colombian soldiers who had assembled in the Haitian capital of Port-Au-Prince to attempt a coup.

• He's charged with conspiracy to commit export violations, submitting false and misleading export information, and smuggling ballistic vests from the United States to Haiti, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida.

What happened: Bergmann, who was interviewed by Bay News 9 for a story about his company shipping tents to Haiti after the 2010 earthquake, allegedly had ties to Christian Emmanuel Sanon, a dual Haitian American citizen who held political aspirations in Haiti, DOJ authorities say.

• In April 2021, Sanon met with several South Florida businessmen — including a financier and owners of a security firm — and began plotting ways to oust Moïse and install himself as Haiti's president.
• In exchange, Sanon promised the men lucrative government contracts, authorities say.

Zoom in: Authorities allege Bergmann became a supporter and investor who helped pay for lodging for a band of Colombian soldiers the group hired to assist the insurrection.

What they're saying: "He, too, was part of the financing arm of this murderous operation," Markenzy Lapointe, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, said at a press conference Wednesday.

Yes, but: The South Florida men soon favored a former Haitian Supreme Court judge to take over instead of Sanon and the plan changed, per the DOJ.

The big picture: Eleven people in total now face charges in connection to the assassination.

• A power vacuum following the assassination has given rise to gangs, and a spike in kidnappings and killings have prompted Prime Minister Ariel Henry to demand the immediate deployment of foreign troops, the Associated Press reports.