The Cuban-AmericanAlejandro Díaz de la Portilla, commissioner of the city of Miami, and attorney William W. Riley Jr. were released on bail Thursday night after agents from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) arrested them for more than one dozen serious charges, including money laundering and bribery.
Upon his release from the county's Turner Guilford Knight (TGK) Detention Center after paying bail of $72,000,Díaz de la Portilla flatly denied being responsible for the charges against him.
"I deny everything, I have had a career of integrity, honesty. I was a state senator, a state representative, now I am a commissioner and I have never had a scandal, I have never had a problem," he said in statements to the press gathered at the scene.
The politician compared himself to Donald Trump, and said that like the former president, he is the victim of a hunt against him to defame him and tarnish his name.
"The same thing that is happening to former President Trump at the national level so that he does not win his re-election, they are doing it to me two months before the elections, so that I do not win mine", said.
"Everything he says there is a lie, there is no truth there," Díaz de la Portilla reiterated, referring to the investigation against him.
Regarding the arrest process, the commissioner attacked saying: "They never called my lawyer, it was a surprise that was designed to make me feel sorry."
Miami Commissioner Alejandro "Alex" Díaz de la Portilla was arrested Thursday on more than a dozen serious charges, including money laundering and bribery, authorities reported.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement arrested Díaz de la Portilla on one count of money laundering, three counts of unlawful compensation or reward for official behavior, one count of bribery and one count of criminal conspiracy, they said.reportsof press.
Diaz de la Portilla, 58, is also charged with four counts of official misconduct, one count of contributing to the election campaign above legal limits and two counts of failing to report a gift.
The commissioner was present at a brief City Commission meeting this Thursday at City Hall, before being arrested in the afternoon, along with attorney William W. Riley Jr.
Agents found evidence indicating that Díaz de la Portilla and Riley Jr. accepted more than $15,000 in payments for Díaz de la Portilla's brother's judicial campaign in Miami-Dade County Court, but did not report them, as required Florida Statutes.
Riley Jr. controlled a bank account in the name of a Delaware-based corporation to launder approximately $245,000 in hidden political contributions made by a management services company in exchange for permission to build a sports complex in Miami.
"It is always sad and unfortunate when an elected official is criminally charged with abusing the public trust, but the community should find some comfort in the fact that today's arrest will shine a bright light on alleged criminal conduct," he stated. the Executive Director of the Miami-Dade Ethics and Public Trust Commission, José Arrojo.
The investigation that led to the arrest of the Miami City Commissioner began as a case regarding possible violations of local ethics ordinances.
Later investigations determined that Díaz de la Portilla also operated and controlled two political committees used not only to support his brother's campaign, but also for personal expenses.
Records obtained by FDLE showed that one of the committees reported total donations of approximately $2.3 million and the other reported total donations of more than $800,000.
Díaz de la Portilla has served asDistrict One Commissioner, representing Flagami, Allapattah and parts of Little Havana, as of 2020.
He was previously elected to the Florida State House of Representatives in 1994 and served six years until he was elected to the Florida State Senate in 2000. He was a member of the Florida Senate until 2010.
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