Reported by Francisco Alvarado

A week after he was accused of shaking down a city marina operator in a civil lawsuit, Miami city commissioner Alex Diaz de la Portilla was arrested on Thursday and criminally charged for a laundry list of allegedly corrupt actions in connection with his younger brother’s failed judicial campaign last year.

The criminal charges involve Diaz de la Portilla allegedly receiving unreported campaign contributions in exchange for granting permission to an unnamed company that wants to build an unidentified sports complex in Miami.

According to the release, Diaz de la Portilla also operated and controlled two political action committees that raised a combined $3.1 million for his brother’s judicial campaign, but that the commissioner also used for personal expenditures, FDLE alleges. 

The criminal charges against Diaz de la Portilla come on the heels of a civil lawsuit filed by his former friend and lobbyist Manuel Prieguez. In his complaint, Prieguez alleged that Diaz de la Portilla and two associates, Humberto “Bert” Hernandez and Anibal Duarte-Viera, attempted to force him and an ex-client, Rickenbacker Marina President Aabad Melwani, to include Duarte-Viera in a proposed deal to redevelop the marina in 2020.

Read full report: https://therealdeal.com/miami/2023/09/14/alex-diaz-de-la-portilla-arrested-on-bribery-money-laundering/