UN accuses former mayor of funding Haiti’s gangs, leaking police info to them

PORT-AU-PRINCE — A United Nations group has accused a former mayor of Arcahaie, Rosemila Sainvil Petit-Frère, of financing gang leaders, laundering money and leaking confidential information about planned police operations to members of the Viv Ansanm coalition. 

In a September report to the UN Security Council, shared on Wednesday by the United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH), the UN Panel of Experts on Haiti said Petit-Frère, a business owner, maintained longstanding ties with the coalition’s powerful organized-crime groups.

“She played a key role in maintaining links between gangs and criminal, political, economic and security circles, particularly by facilitating communications and financial transactions,” the experts said.

Petit-Frère has not yet publicly commented on the reports, but she disputed the allegations in a letter to the UN panel, which gave her an opportunity to respond, according to the investigators.

Petit-Frère was arrested in August 2025 while traveling through the Dominican Republic from Canada. She was released in January 2026 on medical grounds, and her whereabouts are unknown.

The report, which the Council requires to help decide whether to impose sanctions, comes as armed groups continue to kill civilians, attack police and expand their influence across Haiti. The United Nations has reported thousands of killings in 2026, underscoring the impact of gang violence on public safety and the country’s institutions.

Embezzlement, money laundering alleged 

Investigators say they examined Petit-Frère’s alleged exchanges with several Viv Ansanm leaders, including Renel “Ti Lapli” Destina, leader of the Grand Ravine gang in Port-au-Prince. The report alleges that Petit-Frère disclosed confidential information about at least three imminent Haitian National Police (PNH) operations targeting gangs.

The experts also alleged that her connections with police officials helped her secure uniform contracts without competitive bidding or adequate oversight.

Further, according to the report, Petit-Frère was part of a network that included Prophane Victor, a former lawmaker sanctioned for supporting and arming gangs, and Magalie Habitant, whom the panel described as an intermediary between criminal groups and their economic and financial supporters.

Both Victor and Habitant have asserted their innocence in Haitian court proceedings. They have been detained since January 2025 and are awaiting trial. A July 21 Court of Appeal order confirmed their referral to the criminal court. 

According to the experts, Petit-Frère used her political connections to influence public appointments and divert state funds for her benefit.

In one case involving a former director general of the Social Assistance Fund (CAS) implicated in embezzling funds, the panel named Petit-Frère as the main beneficiary. It alleges that she funneled part of the embezzled money to Viv Ansanm leaders and laundered the remainder through businesses registered in Haiti, including Centre Commercial, Groupe Radio Mono 96.3 FM and Excel Travel.

Two other ex-lawmakers also accused of gang ties 

The report also details allegations against former lawmakers Alfredo Junior Antoine and Nenel Cassy, whom the experts linked to armed groups.

Antoine, a former member of the Chamber of Deputies representing Kenscoff, allegedly armed and supported youth groups from at least 2016 to advance his political interests, including a January 2025 attack in Kenscoff that killed more than 100 people and caused numerous rapes.

The panel alleges that Cassy controlled a criminal group known as BLTS, which operated in Miragoâne—a major port city about 60 miles southwest of Port-au-Prince. The former Fanmi Lavalas party senator allegedly also helped establish Fantôme 509, a violent group in the capital whose members included armed individuals and police officers.