Ga. Lawyers Angle for Duvalier Trust Money

11.com Atlanta, Georgia

Posted By – Ben Mayer

Last Updated On: 1/27/2011 6:56:09 PM

— Jean-Claude Duvalier’s Atlanta legal team is
trying to free $6 million belonging to the deposed
president.

Duvalier’s attorneys Ed Marger, Bob Barr, and
Michael Puglise, are trying to broker a deal to
release the money “to do various projects in Haiti”.

Potentially standing in the way is a default judgment in a 1986 lawsuit against Duvalier and his wife filed by Gerard Jean-Juste.

According to Duvalier’s attorneys, a Miami law was granted $504 million and 15 percent of any money recovered, money Duvalier’s attorneys say does not exist.

In a letter to Attorney Ira Kurzban, Duvalier’s legal team offers 15 percent of the frozen trust fund, an estimated $900,000, in exchange for his help getting the money released.

Duvalier was taken into custody following his return to the earthquake-ravaged country in January after 25 years in exile from France.

His arrival garnered criticism and praise alike, with many questioning his political ambitions and others merely hoping for some kind of help.

“He came back,” his attorneys wrote, “to help his fellow Haitians solve their myriad problems caused by both the earthquake and other factors.”

Last week in his first major press conference since his unlikely return to Haiti, , Duvalier, Barr and
Marger spoke of his passion for his home country.

“Regardless of what many people think or do or say about Duvalier regimes, at least there was stability in the country and the people in great measure were progressive. That progress has come to a screeching halt,” Marger said.

Marger told 11Alive’s Jeff Hullinger before departing Thursday from his Jasper legal practice he had known the Duvalier family since the ’60s.

“I am also reminded of those who have risen from the ashes,” Barr said. “The city of Atlanta is the
Phoenix City. The people of Haiti likewise will rise from the problems created by last year’s earthquake

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