The public corruption charges against Miami Commissioner Alex Diaz de la Portilla and attorney/lobbyist Bill Riley Jr. revolve around the two political campaigns waged by the lawmaker’s baby brother, Renier Diaz de la Portilla: The 2020 race for county commission and a 2022 judicial contest. An arrest affidavit lays out the scheme as having begun […]
That was fast. It took just about 24 hours for Gov. Ron DeSantis to suspend Miami Commissioner Alex Diaz de la Portilla, after his arrest this week on charges of money laundering, bribery, criminal conspiracy and other public corruption and campaign finance violations. In contrast, it took three weeks for DeSantis to suspend former Miami-Dade […]
The land-use attorney and lobbyist arrested Thursday on money laundering, criminal conspiracy and political corruption charges also has business ties with Coral Gables Mayor Vince Lago. William “Bill” Riley Jr. was one of the four real estate agents registered along with Lago at the brokerage owned by former Hialeah Councilman Oscar de la Rosa, who […]
Miami Commissioner Alex Diaz de la Portilla was arrested Thursday on money laundering and political corruption charges — including unlawful compensation, bribery and criminal conspiracy — after a yearlong investigation by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the Broward State Attorney’s office. These charges do not stem from the shakedown of the Rickenbacker Marina […]
Nobody knows where it came from. Nobody remembers any discussion about it. It wasn’t on any of the slides in the presentation of the Coral Gables 2023-2024 operating budget at Wednesday’s first public hearing. It wasn’t in the draft budget presented to city commissioners and the public in July. But tucked into the $258 million […]
One staffer worked on brother’s commission campaign UPDATED: Remember Jenny Nillo? The “ghost employee” Miami City Commissioner Alex Diaz de la Portilla had on the Omni CRA payroll while she drove around picking up his booze and his dry cleaning? Well, she is not the only District 1 staffer that ran errands for the commissioner […]
Miami loves a comeback story. Today, there are two. Political observers and civic leaders have alerted Ladra to the resurgence of two shady political operatives who seem to be back in business after somewhat of a sabbatical — forced or not. They are Vanessa Brito, who, after several scams and a shoplifting arrest, is working […]
Miami Commissioner Alex Diaz de la Portilla is still raising money hand over fist for his re-election this November. In the last two months, he’s raised more than $610,000, almost as much as the two months previously, bringing the total since March to more than $1.2 million. In his campaign’s first month, Diaz de la […]
In his desperate attempt to get on the GOP presidential debate map, Miami Mayor Francis Suarez is giving away both a free year of college and a front row seat to soccer legend Lionel Messi’s first game at InterMiami. All one has to do is give $1 to his campaign. Let’s forget a minute how […]
After he won his fake “agritourism” item — which is really a free-for-all at the Redland for food trucks and wedding parties — Miami-Dade Commissioner Kionne McGhee had an impromptu rally at County Hall with his supporters and called other constituents liars and interlopers for opposing his measure. “Some of the things you heard on […]