Lengthy jail terms for 3 Canadians, 14 Cubans in corruption case

Cuba has imposed heavy prison terms on three Canadians and 14 Cuban officials in a corruption scandal the government says cost the economy more than $90 million, the state-run newspaper said Friday.

The case centered around Vahe Cy Tokmakjian, head of an Ontario-based company of the same name, who got 15 years in prison, Granma said.

Tokmakjian’s main Cuban partner, former deputy sugar minister Nelson Labrada, was sentenced to 20 years for his role in the affair.

The prosecutor accused Tokmakjian of fraud and corruption in his negotiations with Cuban entities in the sugar, mining and tourism sectors, Granma said, adding that the damages to the economy were estimated at $91.6 million.

When Tokmakjian was arrested, in September 2011, the Canadian, now 74, was the representative in Cuba of Korean carmaker Hyundai and was linked to several transport businesses.

Two other Canadians associated with Tokmakjian, Marco Puche and Claudio Vetere, were sentenced to eight and 10 years, respectively

And 13 other former Cuban officials, including five who worked at the now-defunct sugar ministry and four who worked in the heavy industry ministry, were also sentenced to jail terms ranging from six to 12 years.

The accused were found guilty of “corruption, of repeated falsification of bank and commercial documents, of acts harmful to economic activity and employment, of illegal economic activity, currency smuggling, fraud, and tax evasion,” Granma said.

The court ordered Tokmakjian to compensate the state using his own assets as well as those of his companies, including Tokmakjian Group Inc., Tokmakjian Limited, CYMC Corp., Tokmakjian International Inc., and Perry Intertrade Inc.,” all implicated in the trial.

Cuban President Raul Castro has vowed to combat corruption as part of his program of limited economic reforms aimed at modernizing the Western Hemisphere’s sole one-party communist state.