KFR chases Miami’s corrupt officials — for their political contributions
About five years ago agents of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) were readying to arrest David Rivera. As reported by the Tampa Bay Times in 2011, “Miami-Dade prosecutors were preparing a ‘draft’ complaint charging the Republican congressman with 52 counts of theft, money laundering and racketeering.”
Mysteriously and for reasons unbeknownst to most, David Rivera’s case suddenly fizzled. This in spite of the fact that FDLE investigators believed that the Rivera violations were “quite evident.” The lengthy probe of Rivera’s finances “unequivocally explains the theft and/or fraud of campaign funds,” wrote FDLE inspector Brett Lycett in a July 5, 2011, email to a prosecutor.
All evidence points to Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernández Rundle’s office as the culprit in allowing Rivera, in a sense, to go free.
The Miami area has always been known as a playground of sorts for shady characters. Meyer Lansky, known as the ‘Mob’s Accountant,’ lived his last years in Miami Beach. Al Capone also had a home in Miami Beach and made his peace with God, I believe he believed, by donating heavily to St. Patrick Catholic church and school there. And who can forget the era of the ‘Cocaine Cowboys’ who gave rise to the Brickell Avenue condo towers in Miami.
But even Al Capone landed in prison. And yes, it took the IRS to catch him, but he died in chains, so to speak.
Miami-Dade State Attorney Kathy Fernandez Rundle
Kathy Fernandez Rundle is running for reelection this year. She’s already amassed almost $270,000 (last I checked). She does not have an opponent. If you look closely at her campaign, it seems like she’s chasing the crooks, but for political contributions.
Fernandez Rundle has been Miami-Dade’s state attorney since 1993 – almost a quarter century. She took over the office vacated by Janet Reno when she became Bill Clinton’s attorney general. Fernandez Rundle’s long stint as chief law enforcement officer in South Florida has been controversial. She’s been soft with public officials considered her friends (and contributors). The most blatant example being David Rivera.
It’s also interesting to note that during her years at the helm of the state attorney’s office, public corruption has taken a turn for the worse. As documented in a 2012 study conducted by the University of Illinois at Chicago and the University of Illinois Institute of Government and Public Affairs, Florida is the fourth most corrupt state in the nation and Miami is the fifth most corrupt metro area in the country, and is responsible for the majority of the corruption in the state.
Miami’s turn for the worse has happened under Kathy Fernandez Rundle’s watch.
Her job is to catch and prosecute the bad guys. And if corruption is rampant in her city, she is supposed to initiate investigations.
Where has she been?
Demetrio Perez Jr.
Demetrio Perez Jr. was a city of Miami commissioner who in 2002 was found guilty of defrauding three elderly tenants in his low-income Little Havana rental apartments. Subsidized by the federal government, Perez still would demand payment ‘under the table’ from his tenants in order to rent from him. After that scandal, a Miami Herald investigation alleged that he also pocketed more than $1 million in rent payments from public school funds that were meant to benefit a program for at-risk children.
These days the former commissioner is wealthier than he’s ever been and receives state subsidies for a charter school he started under his Lincoln-Marti brand. (It appears that Florida politicians take from the needy to subsidize the corrupt.) The county has also approved millions over the years in municipal bonds to help Perez’s private charter school business, also under the name of Lincoln-Marti.
At best this guy is a sleaze ball. You would think that a state attorney would steer clear of such a person.
But to my surprise when I checked the list of Kathy Fernandez Rundle campaign contributors, a number of Demetrio Perez Jr. corporations showed up prominently and generously. At last count they had contributed almost $10,000.
Hialeah Mayor Carlos Hernandez
This is what Jim DeFede reported recently for CBSMiami: “Katherine Fernandez Rundle, the top law enforcement official in Miami-Dade County, is scheduled to attend a fundraiser Wednesday evening for her re-election campaign that will be co-hosted by a man who admitted in federal court to loaning money at a 36 percent interest rate, which would be considered a violation of Florida’s laws against loansharking.”
When questioned by DeFede why Fernandez Rundle would allow Carlos Hernandez to host a fundraiser, her reply was a cynical: “You know, I don’t know why I wouldn’t.”
Like I already mentioned Katherine Fernandez Rundle is running for reelection. She is unchallenged. I wonder where all the money collected goes if no one jumps in the race?
Her campaign website glowingly states: “You and our entire community deserve nothing less than a criminal justice system led by people on whom you can depend to do what is right consistently, independently and with integrity.”
Integrity? And what of David Rivera, Demetrio Perez Jr. and Carlos Hernandez?
Over a 23 year period, Miami corruption has flourished under Kathy Fernandez Rundle. And with no challengers in the horizon, I expect corruption to take an even bigger leap going forward in South Florida.
