The campaign finance reports filed last week by Coral Gables Vince Lago are pretty boring. He hasn’t raised any money either in his 2025 campaign account or in his political action committee in months, according to the most recent campaign finance records.
Not that he needs to. He has more than $656,000 in the PAC bank for an election in April of 2025.
One notable expenditure of the Coral Gables First PAC, however, is a $5,000 check to arrested and suspended Miami Commissioner Alex Diaz de la Portilla‘s PAC, Proven Leadership for Miami-Dade County. The contribution was made Aug. 1, six weeks before ADLP was arrested on public corruption charges that include money laundering, bribery and criminal conspiracy.
The PAC and how ADLP uses it as his own slush fund was a big part of the investigation.
Dime con quien andas y te dire quien eres.
Read related: Alex Diaz de la Portilla is suspended after arrest on public corruption charges
Political Cortadito has already reported that ADLP “helped” Lago in his race against Commissioner Pat Keon two years ago. Diaz de la Portilla and his harem of Latina What’sApp groupies manned polling places on election day and the commissioner looked quite his happy hour self at the victory party. BTW, that’s Oscar de la Rosa, Hialeah Mayor Esteban Bovo‘s stepson and one of Lago’s real estate partners, in the victory photo with ADLP.
More recently, Lago and lawyer Bill Riley — who was arrested alongside ADLP in a pay-for-play scheme to give away a public park — worked together in the realty firm owned by de la Rosa, Rosa Commercial Real Estate, which sold the 1505 Ponce de Leon property for $35.5 million to Rishi Kapoor, the same developer paying Miami Mayor Francis Suarez $10,000 a month to “consult” while pulling permits for a project in the city of Miami. The FBI is investigating.
The sale by netted Rosa Commercial Real Estate a brokerage fee of $640,000. It’s normal to wonder how that money was split up between Lago, Riley, de la Rosa and Lago’s chief of staff Chelsea Granell, who was also listed as a realtor at the firm.
Lago won’t answer phone calls or text messages about this or anything. He is too busy going on the radio and playing victim, saying that he is being defamed while he defames three commissioners who don’t vote his way.
Read related: Brokerage firm cleans house after corruption arrests, drops Vince Lago
Meanwhile, as he paid the Miami mayor his “consultant” fee, Kapoor also “rented” a space across the street from the 1505 building that was supposed to be the sales office for the condos, a storefront at 1424 Ponce that had “coincidentally” just been purchased, according to property records, by Lago and a group of investors that include Steve Suarez, the cousin of the Miami mayor. “Rented” is in quotes because it never became a sales office. It sat vacant forever while Lago, Suarez and company were paid $12,410 a month after an initial $14,600.
That’s more than $150,000 for a space that was never used.
Or was it for something else?
Coral Gables Mayor Vince Lago gave $5K to ADLP’s PAC before arrest added by Ladra on
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[…] gave $5,000 from his political action committee to another PAC run by Alex Diaz de la Portilla in 2023, just six weeks before the latter was arrested on public […]
[…] at 1505 Ponce de Leon and paid more than $152,000. But the space sat empty all the while. Lago gave $5,000 from his political action committee to another PAC run by Alex Diaz de la Portilla in 2023, just six weeks before the latter was arrested on public […]
Ladra, I heard that ADLP is out at State Committeeman with the Dade County GOP, who are they replacing him with? Last year it was proud boys and now this?
Birds of a feather, flock together. Monsters in suits, go to jail. It is obvious that Lago’s time is over on the commission and no amount of interviews or newly created support blogs will stop it. Time to recall Lago.
Why did Vince Lago pay Alex DLP $5,000? Why did Lago divert his donor’s money to
a corrupt POS? And a Miami POS?
Surly Raul was the first of more o f a
class, in Coral Gables Commission. Today, it’s thoroughly so, with a small deviation. The Little Gables 2017 application was thwarted with the help of the Eighth Street short stay motels. But the prized pig, was always the Trailer Park lot. Development, from 36th Ave, west along the Trail ,since, has made the negotiation of that land, profitable. With our Mayor, a career Construction and development practitioner we may see the skids oiled.
I hope the people elected to positions that are supposed to be protecting and overseeing the community of Coral Gables, but in reality are “STEALING” from the residents, get convicted of wrong doings and pay back what they’ve stolen.
I hope the residents open their eyes and never vote for these thieves ever again.
Wow… The biggest news drops this weekend and it just so happens to be about one of the new commissioners. But you completely ignore it because it’s about Castro and NOT the Mayor. I’m genuinely surprised you didn’t eat that news up. No no, it would’ve been too easy. So instead, you felt the need to post a totally unrelated article about the Mayor in what appears to be another attempt to frame him and to divert your readers attention away from the harsh reality that Castro is probably the worst one of them all. How deep in their pockets are you?
Sounds like The Bermuda Triangle ? Mayors of 3 Cities and Attorneys, Consultants, Lobbyist and Commissioners, Realtors Playing in This Triangle That The FDLE is Investigating , The More They Look The DIRTY IT GETS !
Corruption at its best and nothing is done about it. They must have gone to Trump University and major in fraud
When will Ladra report on Melissa ‘s scheme to secure permits in Coral Gables for a fee, while being a Commissioner?
Vince Lago’s brother is a lobbyist / land use attorney at Greenberg Traurig. Bro used to be an assistant to novice commish Francis Suarez. Francis Suarez is the dude with the No-Show gigs. Suarez is the dude who forces Miami taxpayers to pay over $1 Million per year on his private security.
Bribes are paid in colorful ways. We have several Mafia families disguised as city leaders.
Mayor lago is a disgrace to the city of Coral Gables, bringing Miami corruption to the city beautiful. Billy Corben nailed it in the video shown here
https://communitynewspapers.com/coral-gables-news/mayor-lago-wrong-week-to-be-an-anti-semite/
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