Thousands of home and business owners throughout Miami-Dade County have spent millions of dollars the past two years unwittingly having illegal work done on their homes. They're victims of a county contractor's licensing scam involving at least 178 companies, stolen computer pass codes and shoe boxes full of money for three county employees -- one of them now a fugitive. Officials have recovered $250,000 from the men.
County officials say the three workers in the Building Code Compliance Office created the fake licenses and sold them to companies that couldn't obtain them or didn't want to wait to be licensed. Contractors paid $2,000 to $15,000 for each fake license. After getting licensed and finding work, the companies received building permits and final inspections from the county. ''They made a mockery of the entire system,'' State Attorney Katherine Fernández Rundle said.
In Coral Gables, building and zoning officials planned today to stop construction on about 45 properties being worked on by 21 contractors.
Sweetwater, Miami Beach and several other municipalities were compiling lists. So far, Miami-Dade police have identified about 3,300 victims in unincorporated parts of the county. Detectives said there is no telling how many others have been affected in the county or in its 34 municipalities. In an average year, the Building Code Compliance Office issues about 1,800 contracting licenses.
The alleged mastermind of the scheme, Lazaro Herrera, a compliance office network administrator earning $89,400 a year, failed to turn himself in to police Thursday as promised, Miami-Dade Police Director Robert Parker said. The director said officers are watching Miami International Airport should Herrera try to leave the country.
Herrera, Joaquin Barros and Jerry Hernandez have been charged with racketeering, conspiracy, scheme to defraud, unlawful access of a computer network, official misconduct, grand theft and unlawful compensation. If convicted, they could face 20 years in prison. Barros, a building office contractor making $26,600 a year, and Hernandez, a department analyst making $61,600, turned themselves in to Miami-Dade police Thursday and are being held at the County Jail. Barros' bond has been set at $250,000; Hernandez's at $350,000.
According to Miami-Dade police, the sequence of events that led to the charges began in November when a woman named Maritza Bermudez was cited by the county for doing work without a contractor's license.
In March, she told Building Code Compliance Supervisor Jose Lezcano she had been issued the citation in error -- and bragged that she knew where she could buy a license, anyway.
Lezcano then checked a contractor's license number given to him by Bermudez that wasn't hers. He noted that it was issued in only five days without a host of requirements like proof of insurance and a credit check, according to a police affidavit. Most licenses take four to six weeks. Miami-Dade police were notified and set up visual surveillance. A search of their homes turned up about $250,000 in cash, much of it in boxes throughout Herrera's home. Some $60,000 was found in shoe boxes owned by Hernandez, police said. (Miami Herald, Aug.18, 2006)
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4 comments:
I know Im comming in to this a little late. But I wonder whether this hasn't been happening for many years, just in a more systematic and concealed way. And with the scale so large, which developers or larger construction firms may be invovled in this.
I think it is bigger than just Miami, I think it happens in lots and lots of places throughout the US. Building inspectors act like they own the place when they go to a site. The inspectors will tear something up even if nothing is wrong with it, they have a lotof power and have become accustomed to unearned respect , people homeowners, contractors respect the position and pay them off so they can get their home or building finished. It's government sanctioned cronyism at its finest.
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5 years later Miami is even deeper in the corruption.
Of my 6 neighbors i am the only legally permitted property. With all taxes paid, no liens and no problems. Yet strangely the building department only gave me violations. As a matter of fact the day we cleared the property( of weeds) to layout out some preliminary lines with spray paint, i was given a category 99 soil violation which took 6 months to clear and was accompanied by an offer for me to "ensure there were no other issues" he actually wanted 5,000 dollars. The idiot had no idea why i was holding my phone up. If only these people knew how many recordings i made after that. My neighbor to the east has been squatting on land that is not his for 15 years. he pays no taxes has no permits has built a 2000 to 3000 square foot, "livable" space out of plywood and corrugated steel roofing as well as an old RV and a trailer. He lives on a generator after unsuccessfully trying to steel our power then he tried to tap right into the power lines themselves. After he starting pumping his raw sewage onto our property we began calling the county and filing complaints. * 3 years later still nothing. According to the man’s son, who came over to brag. They have a family connection at the county and that is why he has been able to illegally build these structures. So i spend thousands to meet these never ending requirements of Miami Dade and to "hurricane" proof my home. And now the only damage i get during storms is this neighbor along with several other neighbors’ garbage shacks blowing apart and slamming my house. Thanks Miami. I’m so glad i spent 2 million dollars in your city and I’m so happy to pay 15 thousand a year in taxes. (Not really) Like many others we have met over the past 8 years, this city is to third world, and we are going to have to leave. Rights only come with 100 dollar bills. No wonder no real business wants to set up shop here. It’s really too bad. Such a racially integrated community in such a beautiful place. This city could be a leader and an example to the rest of the country and instead it remains a joke. As one business owner told me. "You came from New York to here to build your business? Why?"
In my defense when i attended college here in the early 90s, this city was booming. I came back because i loved it so much and was shocked at how badly this place has been run. Shame on you Miami. You look after criminals more than you do your proud and honest residents. Scarface was just a movie; Criminals don’t better communities or pay taxes. You seriously backed the wrong horse.
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