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Description and Holding Information
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1904-07, Affair de la Consolidation (1), Initial Statement of Facts, 1904
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Considérations sur la consolidation: n.a. (La Chambre du Conseil de l’Instruction criminelle), 16p, Port-au-Prince, Imprimierie F. Smith, 1904.
(Lacks TC & index This document sets out the initial facts in a major fraud case involving the consolidation of the public debt by F. Herrmann & Co. The
case was brought during the administration of President Alexis Nord; in office 1902-1908. Soon after being elected president on 21 Dec. 1902, General
Nord announced his determination to enforce srict accounting of the public funds. Rumors were rife of fraud having been perpetrated in the
consolidation of the public debt which had taken place under President Sam's administration. On the 22nd of March, 1903, President Nord Alexis appointed a
Commission to investigate. It being found that the Haitian people had been defrauded of over $1,257,993, the case was referred to the courts. After an
inquiry lastingover ten months the Chamber of Council (i.e., grand jury) of Port-au-Prince indicted: Joseph de la Myre, a Frenchman and former director of
the National Bank of Haiti; and three former employees of the bank, Georges Oelrich & Rodolph Tippenhauer, both Germans, and Poute de Puybaudet, a
Frenchman. Also implicated were: Vilbrun Guillaume, a former Haitian Secretary of War; G. Gédéon, a former Attorney-General; B. Saint-Victor, a former
Secretary of Exterior Relations; Herard Roy, a former Secretary of the Treasury; and four Haitian citizens with connections to Pres. Sam, Demosthenes
Sam, Lycurgue Sam, J. C. Arteaud, and Auguste Léon. The "consolidation" scandal caused a considerable amount of agitation. The indicted parties were
influential and well-known men. Their friends did all in their power to prevent their trial. The National Bank of Haiti went so far as to publicly declare
that it would no longer give any help to the Haitian Government if its former employes implicated in the frauds were not set free and allowed to
leave the country without further ado. In spite of his personal sympathy for many of the offenders, and in spite of the pressures brought to bear on him,
President Nord Alexis remained firm in his determination not to interfere in the matter. The Haitian people in general also supported the prosecution.
On the 28th of November, 1904, the indicted parties appeared before the Criminal Tribunal (Cour d'Assises) of Port-au-Prince. The proceedings, which
lasted nearly a month, were all public. The Ministers of France and Germany personally attended the sittings of the court. Mr. Allen, a barrister of
the Paris Court of Appeals, was sent from France for the purpose of monitoring all aspects of this famous criminal suit. The evidence against the
parties was overwhelming. The jury was given eighty-five questions to answer. Its response came on the 24th of December. Herard Roy alone was acquitted and
set free. The remaining defendants were found guilty as indicted: The four foreign bank officials, de la Myre Mory, Oelrich, Tippenhauer, and de
Puybaudet were sentenced to four years of hard labor. The former secretary of war, Guillaume, got penal servitude for life. G. Gedeon, Demosthenes Sam,
and Lycurgue Sam were sentenced to three years of hard labor, and the former A.G., Saint-Victor to three years of imprisonment. Other documents on this
site relating to this case can be found under the titles: Haiti, La Consolidation (2), 1904; Haiti, La Consolidation (3), 1905, Haiti, La
Consolidation (4), 1906/07, & Haiti, La Consolidation (5), 1906.)
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Title:
Considérations sur la consolidation.
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OCLC Number:
757421191
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Available Volumes
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| Name | Fiche Count | Online | Paper Backup |
| Volume 1 | | Yes | No |
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