Miami City Commissioner Alex Diaz de la Portilla arrested by FDLE, facing criminal charges

MIAMI — Agents with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement on Thursday arrested Miami City Commissioner Alejandro “Alex” Diaz de la Portilla on criminal charges of money laundering and bribery that were apparently related to accepting campaign contributions but failing to disclose them, investigators said.

Diaz de la Portilla, 58, is facing a host of criminal charges, including one count of  money laundering, three counts of unlawful compensation or reward for official behavior, one count of bribery, one count of criminal conspiracy, four counts of official misconduct, one count of campaign contribution in excess of legal limits and two counts of failure to report a gift, the FDLE said.

Attorney William W. Riley Jr. 48, of Miami, is also facing a litany of charges, including one count of  money laundering, three counts of unlawful compensation or reward for official behavior, one count of bribery, one count of criminal conspiracy and failure to disclose lobbyist expenses, according to a written statement by the FDLE.

Both men were booked into Turner Guilford Knight (TGK) Detention Center after their arrest Thursday afternoon, officials said. 

Diaz de la Portilla was being held Thursday afternoon on a $72,000 bond, while Riley Jr. was being held on a $46,000 bond, the FDLE statement said. 

Both men were expected to appear in front of a judge for a first appearance hearing on Sept. 15.

Investigators said they found evidence that Diaz de la Portilla and Riley Jr. accepted more than $15,000 in payments for Diaz de la Portilla’s brother’s Miami-Dade County Court judicial campaign but did not report them, as required by Florida law.

The FDLE statement said Riley Jr. controlled a bank account in the name of a Delaware-based corporation that was used to launder $245,000 in concealed political contributions made by a management services company in exchange for permission to build a sports complex in the city of Miami.

The FDLE determined that Diaz de la Portilla also operated and controlled two political committees used not only to support his brother’s campaign, but also for personal expenditures.

According to investigators, one of the committees reported total donations of approximately $2.3 million and the other reported total donations of more than $800,000.

The investigation was assigned to the Broward State Attorney’s Office after the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office requested the investigation be reassigned to avoid any possible conflict of interest or appearance of impropriety, Broward officials said. 

“It is always sad and regrettable when an elected official is criminally charged with abusing the public’s trust, but the community should find some solace in the fact that today’s arrest will shine a bright light on the alleged criminal conduct,” said Miami-Dade Commission on Ethics and Public Trust Executive Director Jose Arrojo. “The investigation leading to today’s arrest of City
of Miami Commissioner Alex Diaz de la Portilla and local attorney William W. Riley, Jr. began as an inquiry into possible violations of local ethics ordinances. Once it became evident that a violation of criminal law was indicated, the matter was brought to prosecutors and law enforcement. We commend our investigators and staff as well as the Broward State Attorney’s Office and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, for their work on this case and thank them for allowing the Ethics Commission to partner with them.”