Corruption

Leo Joseph, Editor of Haiti Observateur, Says He'll Fight Defamation Ruling, Stands by Exposé on Haiti's Prime Minister

By Terrence McCoy Tue., Mar. 5 2013 at 9:32 AM
Categories: Corruption
haiti prime minister.jpg
Haiti Prime Minister Laurent Lamothe says he didn't commit any of the reported wrongdoings.
Following a scathing judgment concerning a defamation lawsuit in Miami court last month barring a prominent Haitian-American journalist, Leo Joseph, from printing the name of the Haitian prime minister, Joseph has vowed to fight the ruling, calling it another manifestation of the politician's corruption.

Last August, Joseph published a series of articles in Haiti Observateur, which he also edits, detailing alleged wrongdoing by Haitian Prime Minister Laurent Lamothe. Joseph reported that Lamothe -- who owns a telemarketing firm -- had set himself up to profit from the sale of Haitel, a large telephone company, through his connections to the Haitian government.

"It's a very juicy story," Joseph said.

Joseph wrote in one story that Lamothe would obtain the "lion's share" of the profits made off the $25 million transaction.


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Corruption

DEP's Jeff Littlejohn Violating Federal Clean Water Act, Says PEER Complaint

By Chris Sweeney Wed., Aug. 22 2012 at 5:00 AM
Categories: Corruption
JeffLittleJohn.jpg
Jeff Littlejohn, the No. 2 man at Florida's Department of Environmental Protection, is in violation of conflict-of-interest clauses contained within the federal Clean Water Act, according to a complaint filed with the Environmental Protection Agency.

The complaint, submitted by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, is the latest in a string of allegations that industry influence has entrenched itself deep within DEP under Gov. Rick Scott.

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Department of Environmental Protection, EPA, Jeff Littlejohn, Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility
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Corruption

Bob Butterworth's Mental-Health Group Accused of Manipulating DCF Bid Process

By Stefan Kamph Thu., Aug. 16 2012 at 11:01 AM
Categories: Corruption
220px-Bob_Butterworth.jpeg
Wikimedia
Butterworth: Milking the DCF bid process?
Bob Butterworth is something of an avuncular elder statesman of Florida politics, brought in to mend fences and rout corruption when something's amiss. The former attorney general and Broward sheriff served a stint as Sunrise mayor after that city was plagued by scandal in the '80s; after the head of a Miami Beach health center stole $7 million, the center brought in Butterworth "to ensure this kind of betrayal of trust can never happen again." More recently, Debbie Wasserman Schultz picked him to moderate a raucous discussion between opponents and supporters of the ICE jail in Southwest Ranches.

But now Butterworth, known in some circles as "the ethics enema," has been dodging scrutiny of his own. The Broward Bulldog reports that an appeals court has just thrown out allegations that Butterworth's mental-health nonprofit got an unfair leg up from the Department of Children and Families, which he used to run.

In fact, he's got a history of using his position to help out his friends... something New Times explored a few years ago.
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Bob Butterworth, Broward Behavioral Health Coalition, Department of Children and Families
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Corruption

Mandy Dawson Gets Six Months for Tax Evasion

By Rich Abdill Fri., Jul. 20 2012 at 1:43 PM
Categories: Corruption
mandy-dawson.jpg
Though former Fort Lauderdale legislator Mandy Dawson said in April that "no different than any other person walking the streets of America" with tax problems, she's certainly different from people walking the streets now: She'll be locked up.

Dawson was sentenced to six months in prison today after pleading guilty in April to charges that she failed to pay taxes on about $200,000 in income in 2004 and 2005 and not filing income tax returns in 2006, 2007, or 2008. In case you didn't know: She was representing Fort Lauderdale in the state Legislature during that time.
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Corruption

BREAKING: Broward Teachers Union Funds Used in Illegal Contributions to Hillary Clinton, Alex Sink, Investigators Say

By Rich Abdill Tue., Jul. 10 2012 at 11:45 AM
Categories: Corruption
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See also: Former Broward Teachers Union President Patrick Santeramo Arrested, Faces 200 Years in Prison.

Former Broward Teachers Union President Patrick Santeramo turned himself in today after being charged with 20 counts of various racketeering, theft, and money-laundering charges. There are dozens of pages of accusations to wade through, but one thing sticks out immediately: Between October 2007 and September 2010, Santeramo allegedly embezzled BTU funds to reimburse union members and staff for $25,000 in campaign contributions they made to both the presidential campaign of Hillary Clinton and the gubernatorial campaign of Alex Sink.

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Corruption

Former Broward Teachers Union President Patrick Santeramo Arrested, Faces 200 Years in Prison (UPDATED)

By Rich Abdill Tue., Jul. 10 2012 at 10:59 AM
Categories: Corruption
santeramo-mug.jpg
BSO

UPDATE, 11:45: Documents show Santeramo allegedly steered BTU funds to the political campaigns of both Hillary Clinton and Alex Sink.

Original post, 10:59:
Prosecutors announced last November that they were investigating Patrick Santeramo, who was then president of the Broward Teachers Union. Now, the shoe hath dropped: Squarely onto Santeramo's ass.

He turned himself in this morning after the Broward State Attorney's Office filed charges that include racketeering, conspiracy to commit racketeering, five counts of campaign contribution violations, four counts of money laundering, six counts of grand theft, and three counts of organized scheme to defraud.

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Corruption

Outside Her Contempt Hearing, Sylvia Poitier Says She Respects the Government

By Rich Abdill Mon., Jun. 25 2012 at 7:51 AM
Categories: Corruption
SYLVIA-POITIER.jpg
Look at how respectful she looks in her mugshot!
Former Deerfield Beach Commissioner Sylvia Poitier doesn't want anyone to think she "doesn't respect government." It's important that she pointed that out, because you might mistakenly come to some other conclusion when you heard about she polluted land with dry-cleaning chemicals, then wouldn't submit the government-required report about the pollution, then wouldn't pay the $200-a-day late fees for the report for more than a year, then would pay for the cleanup of the land, then wouldn't pay almost $11,000 in property taxes on the business.
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Florida: First in Our Hearts, First in Public Corruption Convictions

By Rich Abdill Thu., Jun. 7 2012 at 11:36 AM
Categories: Corruption
corruption-road-map.JPG
Actual illustration from the report.
People have a lot of opinions about our quaint little corner of the country, but there's one thing that's above dispute: Florida never defies expectations.

So when you hear that a report was released yesterday laying out state-level statistics about public corruption, which state would you expect to be at the top (and don't cheat by looking at the headline)? Why, yes, it was Florida. How did you guess?

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Ben Wilcox, Dan Krassner, Integrity Florida
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Deerfield Beach Housing Authority Just Throwing Away Public Records Now

By Rich Abdill Wed., Jun. 6 2012 at 9:32 AM
Categories: Corruption
Deerfield-Beach-movers.jpg
It looks like Deerfield Beach has a twofold problem: The first fold is that the "office manager/comptroller" responding to emails for Housing Authority Chairman Keith Emery has no idea how to read a four-sentence request for simple public records.

The second is that they've been throwing those public records away.

MAOS blogger (and former DBHA commissioner) Chaz Stevens, doing his thang with the Sunshine Law requests, asked for the official emails of Emery and Commissioner Caryl Berner back in March. They're required to save them, because emails sent or received in an official capacity by public officials are public record.
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Chaz Stevens, Deerfield Beach Housing Authority, Keith Emery
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Corruption

Is Somebody Using This Belle Glade Garbage Truck for Freelance Trash Joyrides?

By Rich Abdill Tue., May 22 2012 at 8:51 AM
Categories: Corruption
belle-glade-truck.JPG
How many uses could there possibly be for a gigantic garbage truck, and how hard could it be to fill out a little tiny form when it gets filled up with gas? According to data coming out of Belle Glade, the answer to the first one is "more than one," and the answer to the second is, uh, "really, really difficult."

The paper trail attached to this truck raises several questions -- records for mileage and fuel use show fudged numbers every step of the way and suggest that somebody in Belle Glade is using this truck in ways that aren't what the city paid for.

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Belle Glade, Truck 707
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