Gay Love In Miami Corruption Scandal

Doral Pharmaceuticals millionaire Carlos De Cespedes does not mince words when he explains why he gave Jose ''Pepe'' Diaz a hard-to-define, $80,000-per-year job after Diaz's election to the Miami-Dade County Commission. ''I hired him so he won't steal from you and me,'' De Cespedes told The Miami Herald during an interview this week at the Coral Gables restaurant he owns, Chispa. The temptation for fraud is just too great, De Cespedes argued.

Commissioners get a $6,000 annual salary to oversee a $7 billion county budget. A ballot measure in September will ask voters to raise that salary to approximately $89,000. The ballot language will not include any mention of the $55,100 in annual cash perks that commissioners have added over the years, however. If the measure passes, commissioners' total annual compensation would increase to $144,000.

''Those fringe benefits are not outrageous, in fact, they are normal for a job at that level,'' De Cespedes said. "I might still hire him as a consultant for certain jobs'' In recent months, federal prosecutors have contacted him at least twice to discuss the well-known elected official on his payroll. De Cespedes said he has cooperated fully with investigators and has nothing to hide. Diaz could not be reached for comment Thursday evening. Both federal and county authorities are examining Diaz's ties to De Cespedes and prominent developer Sergio Pino. One focus is a fishing trip the three men took to Cancún, Mexico, aboard Pino's private jet in May 2004.

''Their theory is that I'm a pass-through for money from Sergio to Pepe,'' De Cespedes said. 'I tell them, "Subpoena my records, subpoena everything. There's nothing there.'' Diaz did not disclose the fishing trip on gift forms filed with the state ethics commission. But he did disclose his job with the De Cespedes-controlled venture capital firm Astri Group, a $206,000 loan in 2004 from another De Cespedes venture called CJDC Investments and a $19,795 ''bonus'' in 2004 from Kaufman Medical, also controlled by De Cespedes.

Diaz, refers to himself as ''director of corporate affairs'' for the Astri Group. De Cespedes said that he didn't know Diaz's exact title, saying it was not significant: "Pepe can call himself whatever he wants.'' Earlier this year, Diaz co-sponsored an amendment to an existing county ordinance that requires all county departments to give preference to local bidders when awarding contracts. Diaz's change extended the policy to the Public Health Trust, which oversees Jackson Memorial Hospital, a key client of De Cespedes' company Pharmed. All of Pharmed's $3.7 million in sales to Jackson in 2005 was in such medical-surgical supplies, Alonso said.

De Cespedes said he didn't know about Diaz's ordinance change until a reporter left a message about it on his voice mail last week. ''I applaud it. I have been trying to get them to keep their dollars local for a long time,'' De Cespedes said, referring to Jackson Memorial. But he didn't put Diaz up to changing the ordinance, De Cespedes said.

De Cespedes said he, Diaz and Pino spent most of their time together on Pino's boat in Cancún. ''What do three guys talk about on a boat? We talked about women, we talked about Cuba, we talked about politics,'' De Cespedes said. (Miami Herald- August 18, 2006)

Commentary: Why should we think that when one man gives another man an $80,000 a year gift (non-working job); it is because of political corruption? Why not look at the obvious? Maybe these two guys are just in love? Perhaps the reason they like to vacation together is in order to fuck each other up the ass?
Take a close look at their photos. One of them looks like Richard Simmons and the other one looks like he is fingering his bunghole (maybe he is constipated?). Since they both deny being corrupt, then let's give them the benefit of the doubt. If they are just gay for each other, then more power to them! Perhaps they will take their next vacation in Hawaii and get married? We Miamians need to be more supportive of our homosexuals in positions of power, and let them enjoy their lives. Vivan los grandes maricones!