Since Trump took office in January, US foreign assistance spending of all kinds has been severely curtailed in Haiti. But, that didn’t stop the embassy in Port-au-Prince from obligating $60,000 for “pool maintenance.” The contract was awarded in March to a local company, Klean-X S.A, and has a potential value of up to $250,000.
The firm is owned by the Succar family and, according to a Haitian government contracting document, one of the beneficial owners is Antoine Salim Succar. He also appears on the original incorporation paperwork published in the official Le Moniteur. A former advisor to previous Prime Minister Laurent Lamothe and past President Michel Martelly, Succar was sanctioned by Canada in early 2023 for “significant acts of corruption.” Both Lamothe and Martelly have also been sanctioned by the US and Canada.
Government contracting document that lists “Antonio S. Succar” as a beneficial owner of Klean-X S.A. Mr. Succar’s full name is Salim Antonio Succar. The document shows that the Haitian state telecommunications agency, CONATEL, awarded Klean-X S.A. a 1.26 million gourde contract in April 2023 — about two months after the Canada sanctions.
A copy of the July 2, 2011 Le Moniteur, showing the owners of Klean-X as Salim Succar, Jean Succar, and Jacques Frantz Remonvil. At the time, Salim Succar held 40 percent of the shares.
The recent award from the US, however, is far from Klean-X’s first contract. An analysis of government contracting data shows that Succar’s firm has received more than a dozen contracts from the US Embassy since 2019, totaling more than $1.4 million. The contracts are for cleaning services, gardening, and pool maintenance. Nearly $400,000 of that total was obligated after the Canadian sanctions.
USASpending.gov profile page for Klean X SA showing total awards amounting to $1.4 million.
Though Succar is not under US sanctions, officials have consistently indicated that they are coordinating with Canada, the UN, and other nations on sanctions policy. Doing business with entities owned by sanctioned individuals sends a drastically different message.
Not only did Succar continue getting Haitian government and US government contracts after the sanctions, Klean-X received money from Canada as well. In fact, Klean-X also held janitorial contracts at the Canadian embassy dating back to 2016. Since then, the firm has received some $1.25 million for work at the embassy. That work continued even after Canada sanctioned Succar, with Klean-X receiving more than $100,000 in 2023. In 2024, for the first time in nearly a decade, the Canadian embassy awarded its cleaning service contract to a new firm.
The last contract that Klean-X appears to have received from the Canadian government was awarded in August, 2023 — about six months after the sanctions.
Various UN agencies, including UNOPS and UNICEF, have contracted with Klean-X as well, including after the 2023 Canada sanctions. In 2023 and 2024, Klean-X received more than $250,000 from UNICEF and about $50,000 from UNOPS.
Succar seems aware that his presence on the Canadian sanctions list could be problematic for his US holdings, if not his ability to receive US taxpayer money. In 2024, two South Florida properties in Succar’s name were transferred to Florida-registered LLCs; one purchased in 2015 and the other in 2017. They have a combined value of over $1 million. Both newly created LLCs list the registered agent as Cabinet Lissade Succar Trust, with a residential address in Doral — that home was purchased for $800,000 by Succar’s brother, Michel, just two months after the sanctions.
Mr. Succar did not respond to a request for comment.
This first appeared on CEPR’s Haiti Watch.
