On September 14th, the City of Miami Commissioner for District 1, Alex Díaz de la Portilla, was arrested on many charges, including money laundering and bribery.
Commissioner Díaz de la Portilla is charged with: money laundering (one count); campaign contribution in excess of legal limits (one count); criminal conspiracy (one count); bribery (one count); failure to report a gift (two counts); unlawful compensation or reward for official behavior (three counts); and official misconduct (four counts), according to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
This case is uncovering many other lies and schemes in the City of Miami government, with other officials being investigated.
During the investigation, it was found that Alex laundered $245,000 in hidden political contributions made by a management services company. In exchange, he permitted Centner Academy to build a $10 million athletic complex at Biscayne Park. There were plans for this land to be used to build more classrooms for iPrep and affordable housing for teachers. He has been removed from his position as City of Miami District 1 commissioner. The commissioners noted leaving the District one seat open until the general election on November 7, 2023.
