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Ontario, A Canadian businessman jailed in Cuba on corruption-related charges maintains he’s innocent and is determined to fight for his freedom, his son said Monday.
The claims against his father Cy Tokmakjian, who owns the Ontario-based automotive company Tokmakjian Group, are “completely false,” Raffi Tokmakjian said during an emotional news conference with his family in Vaughan, north of Toronto.
He described his father, who has been sentenced to 15 years in prison, as a proud man with “the utmost integrity.”
He said he hasn’t seen his father in three years but they have spoken over the phone.
“Every time he calls he reminds us, he says, ‘I’ve done nothing, you know that. Everybody knows that. You cannot stop fighting for what’s right,”‘ Raffi Tokmakjian said.
“‘They’ve already taken three years of my life, but I will not admit to anything I have not done.”‘
The company said its lawyers were notified Friday that Tokmakjian, 74, was convicted and sentenced on a variety of charges that Cuban officials call part of a widespread campaign against graft. He was held for more than two years before being tried in June.
Raffi Tokmakjian said his father has done business for more than 40 years both in Canada and abroad without any problem because he ran his affairs “appropriately in accordance with every single law in the jurisdictions.”
MP Peter Kent, whose Thornhill riding includes the company’s headquarters, has said that Tokmakjian should be sent back home, calling the conviction a “travesty of justice.”
He could be expelled from Cuba or transferred to a Canadian facility instead of serving out his sentence there, Kent said.
Kent said the case is “a very strong reminder that international investors should beware” when dealing with Cuba.
Foreign Affairs has said that consular services are being provided and officials are in contact with authorities in Havana.
The company issued a statement earlier this year saying Tokmakjian did nothing wrong and suggested he didn’t get a fair trial.
The company’s Cuban offices were raided in 2011 as the country launched an anti-graft drive that has swept up foreign business executives from at least five nations as well as government officials and dozens of Cuban employees at key state-run companies.
Foreign business people have long considered payoffs ranging from a free meal to cash deposits in overseas accounts to be an unavoidable cost of doing business in Cuba. President Raul Castro has said that rooting out rampant corruption is one of the country’s most important challenges.
More than 150 foreign business people and dozens of small South American and European companies have been kicked out of the country under the anti-graft drive. Several dozen defendants have ended up in jail, including a few foreigners and high government officials accused of influence-peddling and taking bribes.
Such cases, and questions about their fairness, have chilled many current and potential investors in Cuba, which is trying to attract foreign capital to jumpstart the stagnant economy.
Cuba’s judicial system is known for speedy proceedings behind closed doors with little or no media access. Cuban officials have said little about the Tokmakjian case beyond announcing last year that the Tokmakjian Group’s operating licence had been rescinded due to unspecified actions.
Tokmakjian managers Claudio Vetere and Marco Puche got 12- and eight-year sentences, respectively, company vice-president Lee Hacker told The Associated Press.
The company’s website says it provides both transportation services and engine repairs.
