South Florida Corruption
Justice will not be served until those who are unaffected are as outraged as those who are
Hover Over Items In Main Menu To View Sub-Menus
Articles by Title
Copyright Disclaimer
Under Section 107 of
The Copyright Act
Of 1976:
“Allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use."
Legal Notice: southfloridacurrution.com™ utilizes YouTube (Google) as a video hosting & advertising portal. We act and operate as an independent blog entity. We are in no way employed, affiliated, subservient to, agents of, or acting on behalf of YouTube, or her parent company Google, in the posting of videos, or posted videos.
Grand Jury Launches
Corruption Probe
of Opa-Locka
APRIL 6, 2016
One of the witnesses is an obscure Opa-locka administrator. Another is a veteran city inspector. Yet another is a longtime police officer.
Prosecutors believe they have witnessed crimes in a community called a city for sale, with payoffs and cover-ups that reach into every level of government.
In the widest public corruption case in Miami-Dade in years, the city workers are among 20 witnesses who will testify before a federal grand jury that is probing kickbacks, extortion and a host of other organized schemes carried out by the city’s most powerful leaders.
Jurors will hear evidence of bribery payoffs and shakedowns in cars, restaurants and businesses in scenes captured on video recording devices. Several politicians and staffers are expected to be indicted after prosecutors present FBI evidence gathered over the past three years.
Among the criminal targets: Acting City Manager David Chiverton, Mayor Myra Taylor, City Commissioner Luis Santiago and longtime City Hall lobbyist Dante Starks.
The investigation began three years after the owner of a large storage facility stepped forward and pleaded with federal agents for help after he was ordered to pay bribes to city inspectors to keep operating, according to sources familiar with the investigation and the Miami Herald.
Investigators uncovered what amounted to an alleged criminal enterprise carried out by code inspectors and public works employees demanding payoffs from business owners and using police officers as enforcers in shakedowns reminiscent of large urban cities.
Sources told the Miami Herald that in other instances, city commissioners took part in kickback schemes, including receiving illegal payments from city administrators for large government contracts.
Mayor Myra Taylor has previously denied any wrongdoing.
There was the surprise release of the grand jury’s confidential witness list sent in an email blast to every Opa-locka government employee by City Attorney Vince Brown, who said it was an accident.
Federal authorities have declined to comment on the breach other than to say the investigation will continue unimpeded.
One of the projects under review: the $4.3 million Sherbondy Village community center. The two-story complex with a 250-seat auditorium was riddled with improper dealings, prompting Miami-Dade officials to cut off millions in funding in 2010.
One veteran builder complained the bidding for the project was so irregular that city officials changed the rules before the construction job was awarded to the city’s former housing chief for $1.2 million higher than the lowest bid.
Henry Louden said when he showed up at City Hall with his bid offer, he was told he didn’t have the proper identification. When he returned to City Hall with his paperwork, a clerk said he was one minute late and refused to accept the bid.
Louden said he was stunned by the process, vowing “never again” to participate in an Opa-locka project. The corruption, he told the Miami Herald, was “so deep.”
The lobbyist for the project: Starks, who was already facing state bribery charges in an unrelated Opa-locka case in which he steered millions to private contractors.
For his role in the Sherbondy Village project, he promised the builder that he could speed up late payments from the city for a $35,000 fee.
Another controversial participant in the project was Opa-locka code enforcement officer Randolph Aikens, whose security company was hired at about $10,000 a month to guard the center, according to a county ethics report. Aikens was subpoenaed to appear before the grand jury.
Of all the city departments, the one that’s expected to draw the most attention is public works, a haven for part-time and “phantom” jobs where dozens of people took in pay checks but did not show up to work, according to sources familiar with the investigation and the Miami Herald.
While the city was losing more than $1 million in water and sewer bill collections, public works employees were secretly gouging customers.
Employees would shut off the water of those who didn’t pay their bills. Then, for under the table payments, city workers agreed to turn the water back on.
Several members of the department are under scrutiny, including administrator Gregory Harris, who was questioned by FBI agents during the City Hall raid in March. Another in the spotlight: Daniel Abia, former public works director who now heads the building department.
When contacted by phone, according to the Miami herald Harris refused to answer questions and hung up. Abia said he had not engaged in any wrongdoing.
They did not receive subpoenas, but others familiar with their work are expected to testify.
They include Delia Rosa Kennedy and Airia Austen, administrators who oversaw tens of millions in government grants used for aging sewer and water systems, the most exploited contracts over the years, federal records state.
Another is Kiera Ward, the city’s human resources director who is the girlfriend of Starks, the powerful lobbyist who was sentenced to probation just two years ago in the state case.
Also testifying:
Susan Gooding-Liburd, a former finance director who resigned last summer, just as the city was falling deeper into debt, and her successor, Charmaine Parchment, now at the center of Opa-locka’s financial crisis.
Policeman Hassan Hosein, code enforcement supervisor Wilma Wilcox, and building and licensing inspector Arshad Viqar are expected to testify about extortion schemes carried out by city workers, sources said.
One of the most crucial witnesses is Nelson Rodriguez, the city information technology director who is helping the FBI sort through a massive paper trail of emails and other records left by commissioners and Mayor Taylor.
“We’ve always known something in the city wasn’t right,” Opa-locka civic activist Alvin Burke told the Miami Herald.
Chris Roberts, another activist who frequently attends commission meetings, also told the Herald she hopes the investigation will rid the city of its problems and allow residents to gain trust in their elected leaders. “If it takes all the bad guys to go to prison, that’s where they have to go.”
Other Articles-
Public Corruption 4
DISCLOSURE-By clicking on any ads, we may earn a small commission as an affiliate advertiser, at no extra cost to you.
