Florida authorities arrested Alejandro “Alex” Díaz de la Portilla, the Miami city commissioner, on alleged charges of money laundering and bribery.
The arrest was carried out by agents of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE), who also detained the official’s lawyer, William W. Riley Jr., 48 years old.
According to an official statement, the commissioner and his lawyer face charges of money laundering, illegal compensation, bribery and criminal conspiracy, while Díaz de la Portilla is also accused of committing the crimes of official misconduct, campaign contribution that exceeds legal limits and not reporting a donation.
According to authorities, an investigation revealed that both subjects accepted more than $15,000 in payments for the judicial campaign of the commissioner’s brother to the Miami-Dade County Court.
Failure to report this amount constituted a violation of Florida Statutes. As if that were not enough, the lawyer is accused of laundering some $245,000 in political contributions, which were hidden through a corporate bank account in Delaware.
A series of additional investigations showed that the Miami commissioner controlled two political committees, which he allegedly used to support his brother’s campaign and for personal purposes.
One of these committees reported donations of about $2.3 million, while the other had donations of $800,000.
The executive director of the Miami-Dade Ethics and Public Trust Commission, José Arrojo, indicated that it was a shame that the arrest took place, as it was always sad when an elected official abused the trust given to him.
“It is always sad and unfortunate when an elected official is criminally accused of abusing the public trust, but the community should find comfort in the fact that today’s arrest will shed light on the alleged criminal conduct,” he said.
Both arrests occurred during the afternoon of this Thursday, September 14, and the detainees were transferred to the Turner Guilford Knight (TGK) Detention Center.
The official will appear before a judge this Friday morning, meanwhile, the commissioner faces a bail of 72,000 dollars, while his lawyer was imposed a bail of 46,000.
Before becoming Miami commissioner in 2020, Díaz de la Portilla worked as a state representative and senator. It is known that the official planned to seek re-election in the next elections, but his campaign could suffer damage due to the accusations.
