Miami-Dade commissioner’s aides schemed to rip off $640,000 in grants, prosecutors say

On paper, the county fee grant cash went to assist underprivileged youths enjoying sports activities, help struggling seniors and fund cultural occasions celebrating Haitian tradition.

However in actuality, investigators say, greater than $640,000 in public cash was really stolen by two high aides to a Miami-Dade county commissioner, with the assistance of a South Florida banker. They’re accused of manipulating the method of awarding public grants, quietly steering the cash to their very own firms for 2 years from 2016 to 2018.

Authorities on Monday introduced the arrest of the three, which included suspected ringleader Mackinley Lauriston, who ran unsuccessfully for North Miami mayor and can be the previous chief of employees for Miami-Dade Commissioner Jean Monestime.

He was arrested together with present Monestime aide Evelt Jeudy, and Nadine Chery, a Wells Fargo banker who’s described as Lauriston’s longtime girlfriend. They’re charged with a bunch of felony counts, together with racketeering, organized fraud, grand theft and illegal compensation and official misconduct.

There’s no proof to recommend Monestime, a county commissioner since 2010, had any inkling of what his aides had been doing, prosecutors mentioned. “It seems they betrayed his belief too,” Miami-Dade State Lawyer Katherine Fernandez Rundle mentioned at a press convention on Monday.

Miami-Dade Inspector Normal Felix Jimenez, whose brokers dealt with the case, mentioned different crimes could also be uncovered. “We don’t suppose that is the top of it,” Jimenez mentioned. “There’s most likely much more.”

Lauriston, 55, has held a sequence of presidency jobs over time, together with as chief of employees for Monestime and as an assistant to the vice mayor of Miramar. On his web site, he says he spent 16 years working as a monetary analyst and accountant for the transport firm Ryder.

On-line, he describes himself as a “strategic marketing consultant” for his personal firm, Lauriston & Associates. He additionally ran for mayor of North Miami in 2019, dropping to Philippe Bien-Aime.

His protection lawyer, Larry Handfield, mentioned he surrendered on Sunday and plans to hunt vindication in court docket. “As soon as I’ve reviewed the proof, we’ll take it from there,” Handfield mentioned.

As for Jeudy, he works because the district coordinator for Monestime, who represents the county’s District 2, an space that features components of northern Miami and surrounding cities and neighborhoods. Jeudy earned $73,000 final yr within the place.

Chery and Jeudy’s protection attorneys declined to remark.

Monestime on Friday declined to touch upon the arrest of his aide. “Provided that this matter is now within the fingers of the legal justice system, I’m not at liberty to remark additional,” he mentioned in a press release.

In keeping with prosecutors, the stolen cash largely got here from “discretionary” grant cash allotted to Monestime’s workplace, which can be utilized for quite a lot of professional makes use of.

One instance: The commissioner’s workplace shelled out tens of hundreds to the Little Haiti Optimist Basis, a widely known nonprofit that helps youths within the neighborhood. However the nonprofit’s director, Marie Loussaint, instructed brokers that the commissioner’s workplace pushed her to use for grants — and that she was instructed she’d be performing as a “monetary agent.”

In Might 2016, data confirmed, the commissioner’s workplace instantly paid bills for meals, leisure and venue charges for the Might 2016 Haitian Heritage Month celebration. However then, the Optimist Basis, underneath grant-program guidelines, requested to be reimbursed for over $11,000 for those self same charges — regardless that it had by no means paid any to start with, in line with an arrest warrant.

In all, between 2016 and 2018, the inspiration acquired practically $90,000 in grants. However the basis, at Lauriston’s route, would write checks to numerous firms affiliated with the trio. The funds, as written on the checks, had been purportedly for every thing from turkey and toy giveaways to radio adverts for Haitian cultural occasions and “advertising and marketing and consulting providers,” in line with the warrant by IG Particular Agent Bassam Fadel, who’s dealing with the case with prosecutor Carol Jordan.

In a single case, prosecutors mentioned Lauriston acquired over $4,500 in county tuition reimbursement, regardless that he had already directed the inspiration to pay his invoice from Florida Worldwide College for him.

In one other instance, over $37,000 in grants went to a nonprofit referred to as Youth Schooling Via Sports activities, a professional group that largely depends on public funding to assist assist children’ groups, significantly in soccer. The founder, Mario Apollon, instructed brokers that he would obtain grants, however then the aides would require him to put in writing checks to the third events.

“Lauriston awarded him hundreds of grant {dollars}. Nevertheless, the defendants typically left Apollon with only some hundred {dollars} to run his program,” in line with the warrant.

Apollon instructed brokers he agreed to steer the cash to the businesses as a result of he was “afraid if he refused, he wouldn’t obtain some other funds.”

“These people had been thought of to be victims on this,” Jimenez mentioned. “They had been held hostage. If they didn’t take part, they might be minimize off.”

The three are accused of fraudulently restarting defunct companies to funnel the cash to themselves.

In a single case, they restarted a company referred to as the Haitian Senior Stars Solidarity Group, which ended up getting 4 grants from Lauriston, the warrant mentioned. The group ended up getting $417,425 in grant funds and surplus county property: two homes and a Dodge van.

The group’s former founder mentioned he was “pressured” into utilizing the group to obtain grant funds. After he closed the corporate, Lauriston and Jeudy “hijacked” the corporate, reopened it and used it to funnel grant funds, even forging paperwork to take action, prosecutors mentioned.

This story was initially revealed Might 2, 2022 8:55 AM.