The Cuban-born businessman Sergio Pino was a prominent entrepreneur and real estate magnate in South Florida. His death was reported on Tuesday, in an alleged suicide, when the FBI went to raid his mansion on Isla Dorada Boulevard, Coral Gables, Miami.
This case has shocked the community because Pino was a philanthropist, widely known and respected. His life story was an example for thousands of immigrants who must carve out a path in the United States and dream of achieving the successes he had conquered.
Sergio Pino, the Cuban immigrant who built an empire in Miami
Sergio Pino was born in Havana, Cuba, in 1956. He fled to the United States with his family when he was just 12 years old. They settled in a small apartment in Miami.
His family was humble but very hardworking. His mother washed and ironed clothes, while his father, who had been a merchant in Cuba, worked as a plumber in Florida. Sergio began to help his family by cleaning carpets when he was a teenager.
He graduated from Miami High School in 1975. He attended Miami-Dade Community College for two years, but did not continue his studies. Instead, he chose to create, with the help of his father, a plumbing store in Hialeah known as Century Plumbing.
The business was a success, taking off quickly and becoming the genesis of the great empire that Sergio Pino would build over the years in Miami, the Caribbean, and South America, where it also succeeded under the name Century Wholesale.
In 1989, Sergio Pino had already amassed a fortune and had a lot of prestige as an entrepreneur in the United States. He became the president of the Latin Builders Association, a construction group based in Coral Gables.
In 1997, he created the real estate holding Century Partners Group, and also founded Century Homebuilders Group in this decade, which has built more than 16,000 houses, only in South Florida.
From his companies, he always maintained community commitment actions in South Florida, actively participating in various organizations and foundations.
In addition to being president of the Latin Builders Association, he was a member of the board of directors of Florida International University (FIU) and the founder of U.S. Century Bank, a project he would later abandon.
His companies supported educational, health, and community programs in prestigious institutions such as the League Against Cancer, Miami Children's Hospital, and Jackson Memorial Hospital.
In his professional life, he was under investigation by the authorities on several occasions, but they were never able to accuse him of anything.
In 2002, a report by the inspector general of Miami-Dade County criticized him for earning $14.6 million in an airport contract without doing any actual work. In 2006, a federal investigation linked him to a fishing trip to Cancun for Miami-Dade Commissioner José "Pepe" Díaz, although no charges were ever filed.
Sergio Pino's relations with Cuba
In September 2023, Sergio Pino welcomed a delegation of around 70 Cuban entrepreneurs to his mansion in Coral Gables. They were visiting Miami to meet with U.S. officials and Cuban-American personalities.
He encouraged entrepreneurs to develop business projects with the United States to boost the private sector's business development in Cuba.
In May 2024, it warned that the government of Havana will set traps to take advantage of the economic measures approved by the Administration of Joe Biden, where the Department of the Treasury authorizes private entrepreneurs to open bank accounts in the United States.
However, Sergio Pino believed that the Cuban people can also benefit from these measures. "The Havana regime will try to penetrate. Of course, there will be traps, but these measures still remain something positive," he said.
The divorce of Sergio and Tatiana Pino
In 2022, the private life of the Cuban-American businessman took a turn when he began the process of divorce from his second wife, Tatiana Pino. The 32-year marriage broke up for reasons that have not been made public, and she accused him of attempted murder, statements that he rejected and denied.
Recently, Pino has been involved in a complex legal process due to this matter. Tatiana's accusations triggered an investigation into her claims that he had concocted a plan to poison her and threaten her sister.
On the morning of July 16, 2024, the FBI went to his mansion in Coral Gables to search the residence and deliver Sergio Pino a court order regarding these accusations. The SWAT team entered the residence and found Pino dead in an upstairs bedroom.
Sergio Pino is remembered for his support of charitable causes and his commitment to the growth of the Cuban-American community in the United States. His company, Century Homebuilders Group, is a testament to his business vision and dedication to the development of communities in South Florida.
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