Notebook: Aug. 12, 1996

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Life is not so rosy for the former dictator, who ruled Haiti for 15 years. After fleeing in 1986, "Baby Doc" and his wife Michele lived for several years on the French Riviera, bankrolled by hundreds of millions of dollars plundered from Haiti's national treasury. After they blew most of the fortune, Michele divorced him in 1992 and currently lives in Paris. Duvalier and his elderly mother Simone were forced to leave their rented home near Cannes after local merchants sued him for unpaid bills. Mother and son were virtually homeless, reportedly living with a series of friends. Duvalier's lawyer says they live today in the Paris suburbs, adding without elaboration that his client's financial situation "until recently seemed quite difficult." In January a New York State Supreme Court judge ordered Michele to hand over to the Haitian government close to $6 million transferred to her New York bank before the couple fled Haiti. However, only $350,000 remained in the account.

--By Kathleen Adams, Charlotte Faltermayer, Janice M. Horowitz, Lina Lofaro, Belinda Luscombe, Tyler Maroney, Jodie Morse and Jeffery C. Rubin

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