Robert Gewanter’s public poetry in neon hit the nail on the head. Again. The owner of M&M Liquors is already famous for the rhymes he writes on the sign outside his store on Southeast 8th Street in Hialeah. Gewanter, who has swiped at presidents and senators and world leaders from beyond, struck closer to home […]
Hialeah Mayor Carlos Hernandez — who has been denying allegations for years that he committed felony usury — took to the stand in his predecessor’s trial and admitted that he loaned money at 36% interest to a convicted Ponzi schemer who is now the feds’ star witness in the tax evasion and fraud trial against […]
Federal prosecutors will bring two of the most interesting witnesses to the stand Wednesday in the tax evasion and fraud case against former Hialeah Mayor Julio Robaina and wife Raiza, in connection to their alleged shadow banking business that boomed in the City of Progress during Robaina’s reign. Expected to testify today: Councilwoman Vivian “I’ll […]
Opening statements began today in the federal tax evasion and fraud trial against former Hialeah Mayor Julio Robaina and his wife Raiza, in what is likely to become one of the closest watched local political trials lately — and that’s saying something in this atmosphere. According to documents from the U.S. Attorney’s office, witnesses include […]
Ladra wants to be happy about it. Believe me. But it seems like the scales of justice are a little off, here. The U.S. Attorney’s office announced today that a former Miami-Dade Public Works employee had pleaded guilty to a charge of bribery after an FBI investigation found that he was taking $13,000 in kickbacks — […]
Is Hialeah ex Mayor Raul Martinez‘s name off the front of City Hall yet? It’s been a couple of hours since the city Seguro Que Yes council voted 7-0 Tuesday on three resolutions by Mayor Carlos “Castro” Hernandez that strip the names of his political enemies from three city facilities: Raul L. Martinez Government Center, Roberto […]
Elected officials in Miami-Dade seem to habitually harass journalists on a regular basis. It’s like a virus or something. And it’s spreading. From Hialeah’s Mayor Carlos “Castro” Hernandez having me followed by police and throwing me out of public meetings to newly elected Miami Beach Mayor Philip Levine deciding who is a journalist and who […]
The Miami Herald appropriate calls it the year of the bust. That’s because 2013 was particularly packed with political corruption — or at least the kind we found out about, anyway. But it was also the year of disgust as electeds promoted corporate welfare for the millionaire owner of the Miami Dolphins, another millionaire bought […]
As New Year’s Eve approaches, everyone looks anxiously to the state and local elections in 2014. But in one of Ladra’s favorite cities, the heat is already turning up for elections that won’t come ’til 2015. And, when you start to peel the political onion, it’s really about the elections in 2017. Make no mistake […]
Hialeah will have a budget hearing tonight to announce a raise in taxes. That’s right. Tonight. As in almost two months too late. And also a couple of weeks after an election in which Mayor Carlos “Castro” Hernandez and Council Vice President Luis Gonzalez vowed never to raise taxes. Coincidence? Yeah, riiight. The Florida Department […]