A Call for Ethics and Integrity in City of Doral
It is extremely heartbreaking to continue seeing our city negatively portrayed in the media.
This unethical behavior and abuse of power by members of our council must stop!
On 09-30-2024, City of Doral lost our city manager again — the 4th in less than 8 months — all at the hands of 3 individuals.
I’ve raised these concerns for months: the ethics and integrity of our city must never be compromised.
While it deeply hurts me to see what happened yesterday, I am extremely proud of our manager for his courage and valor, and of Valdes for standing up to the injustice.
I strongly suggest, if you haven’t already, that you watch yesterday's meeting and read his resignation letter. Unfortunately, these same 3 people weaponized our city’s budget yesterday, and I could not, in good conscience, support the current budget.
As I’ve consistently said, this November we have the opportunity to elect true public servants whose interests lie only with you, the residents of Doral!
Get involved, get informed, and make your voices heard.
SPANISH:
Es extremadamente desgarrador seguir viendo cómo nuestra ciudad es retratada negativamente en los medios. ?Este comportamiento poco ético y abuso de poder por parte de miembros de nuestro consejo debe detenerse! Anoche perdimos nuevamente a nuestro administrador de la ciudad, el cuarto en menos de 8 meses. Todo en manos de 3 individuos. He planteado estas preocupaciones durante meses; la ética y la integridad en nuestra ciudad nunca deben ser comprometidas. Aunque me duele profundamente ver lo que sucedió ayer, estoy extremadamente orgullosa de nuestro administrador por su coraje y valentía, y también de Valdés por enfrentarse a la injusticia. Les sugiero encarecidamente que, si no lo han hecho, vean la reunión de ayer y lean su carta de renuncia. Desafortunadamente, ayer estas mismas 3 personas utilizaron el presupuesto de nuestra ciudad como arma, y no pude, en conciencia, apoyar el presupuesto actual. Como he dicho consistentemente, este noviembre tenemos la oportunidad de elegir verdaderos servidores públicos, cuyo interés reside únicamente en ustedes, los residentes de Doral. ?Involúcrense, infórmense y hagan oír sus voces!
Communication Award issued to Doral Mayor Christi Fraga
On 10-01-2024 we sent the following request:
Special Council Meeting, Monday, 09-30-2024
Mayor Fraga,
Chtisti:
Univision, Channel 23, had a report on last night's meeting and I am about to start watching the video...
If there is an official statement you have prepared for providing details to the people, please send that to me to distribute...
There are so many rumors, such gossip going on that a statement from you will prevent me from writing the wrong thing...
Thank you so very much!
Hope Reynolds, Author
DORAL, FL – On Monday, Sept. 30, during a special council meeting, the public learned Rey Valdes presented a resignation letter directed to the City of Doral council.
The council was about to discuss item 5B of the agenda on “establishing an annual procedure to evaluate City Manager’s salary and salary evaluation discussion” when Councilwomen Maureen Porras, proponent of the item, said she was just informed Valdes had presented a letter of resignation. “Therefore, this item is moved, so I’m going to move to withdraw it,” Porras said.
“Yes, that is correct. I have to resign effective five minutes ago,” Rey Valdes said. “As we all know, the reason this special meeting was called was to conduct an evaluation of the city manager and specifically evaluate his salary. I want to go on the record to state that this proposed reduction in pay had nothing to do with my job performance, but rather this was in retaliation for refusing to be the puppet of certain council members who are present here tonight,” he added.
The City Manager, appointed in June 2024 in replacement of Interim Manager, Kathie Brooks, who replaced Barbara Hernandez after she was removed from her position, also mentioned the financial impact of this reduction “would have resulted in some members of my senior staff earning more than myself and, frankly, this would have been unjust and unacceptable. I was directed to terminate several employees, not due to their job performance, but rather because they were appointed by the former city manager.”
According to Valdes’s, the aforementioned it’s a direct violation of the city charter since elected officials are not to be involved in any aspect of the administration, including the hiring and termination of employees.
“Behavior such as this by elected officials is something that shocks the conscience and goes against the morals of any decent human being. Holding public office is a privilege that should not be abused by those in power to serve their own agenda. Shame on you,” Valdes said while pointing out in the past eight months, the City of Doral has had four city managers who were “either terminated or forced to resign”.
“Clearly, it is not the city managers’ the ones who are the problem. Let me repeat that: four city managers in eight months. The city managers are not the problem. Do you understand that?”
Following his intervention, there were accusations and arguments between Valdes and councilmembers Maureen Porras and Digna Cabral under a very tense atmosphere.?
The City of Doral Council agreed by vote to extend his employment for 90 days until December 31st at his current salary, and Doral’s Mayor, Christi Fraga, will now start a process with Human Resources for his replacement.?
Doral City Manager Resigns over alleged threats to salary, WLRN
24-5875: A RESOLUTION OF THE MAYOR AND THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF DORAL, FLORIDA, ESTABLISHING AND ADOPTING A FINAL MILLAGE RATE AND LEVY OF AD VALOREM TAXES FOR FISCAL YEAR 2024-2025 IN THE AMOUNT OF 1.7166 MILLS, WHICH IS 9.93% GREATER THAN THE ROLLED-BACK RATE, TO BALANCE THE GENERAL FUND FOR FISCAL YEAR 2024-2025; ESTABLISHING THE ROLLED BACK RATE TO BE 1.5615 MILLS; ESTABLISHING AND ADOPTING THE DEBT SERVICE MILLAGE RATE FOR FISCAL YEAR 2024-2025 IN THE AMOUNT OF .4810 MILLS FOR THE GENERAL OBLIGATION BONDS PARK AND RECREATION PROJECTS, SERIES 2019 AND SERIES 2021; PROVIDING FOR IMPLEMENTATION; AND PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE
24-5862: Ordinance #2024-26 "Adopting the Budget for FY 24-25" AN ORDINANCE OF THE MAYOR AND THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF DORAL, FLORIDA, FINALIZING AND ADOPTING THE BUDGETS FOR THE GENERAL FUND; THE TRANSPORTATION FUND; THE PEOPLE'S TRANSPORTATION PLAN FUND; THE PARK IMPACT FEE FUND; THE POLICE IMPACT FEE FUND; THE DEVELOPMENTAL SERVICES TECHNOLOGY FEE FUND; THE BUILDING FUND; THE PUBLIC ARTS PROGRAM FUND; THE AMERICAN RESCUE PLAN ACT FUND; THE DEBT SERVICE FUND; THE CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT FUND; THE INFRASTRUCTURE REPLACEMENT FUND; THE PARK GENERAL OBLIGATION BOND - SERIES 2019 CAPITAL PROJECT FUND; THE VEHICLE REPLACEMENT FUND; THE PARK GENERAL OBLIGATION BOND - SERIES 2021 CAPITAL PROJECT FUND; THE STORMWATER FUND; THE OTHER POST EMPLOYMENT BENEFITS FUND; RETITLING THE INFRASTRUCTURE REPLACEMENT FUND TO CAPITAL ASSET RESERVE FUND OF THE CITY OF DORAL FOR THE FISCAL YEAR BEGINNING OCTOBER 1, 2024 AND ENDING SEPTEMBER 30, 2025, AS REVIEWED, MODIFIED AND APPROVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL AT THE MEE...
24-5876: A RESOLUTION OF THE MAYOR AND THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF DORAL, FLORIDA, APPROVING THE JOB DESCRIPTIONS, APPLICABLE SALARY SCALE, AND APPLICABLE PERFORMANCE MEASURES AND METRICS FOR POSITIONS IN THE 2024-25 FISCAL BUDGET AS APPROVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL; APPROVING THE UPDATED CITYWIDE PAY PLAN TO INCLUDE NEW POSITIONS AND APPROVED BUDGETED ADJUSTMENT; PROVIDING FOR IMPLEMENTATION; AND PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE
PUBLIC COMMENTS @ 05:15 PM
01:18 ON THE DIAL
Richard Glodstad: Resource Recovery situation, breathing problems, in Ireland landfills are against the law, but recycling plants are allowed. Would not sue the County, move it to the Airport West / Opa Locka which will be good for us but not for the "animalitos" in the everglades, The County approved all the permits to build homes nearby. Call their bluff, meaning the County Commissioners. Life works like that, call their bluff, keep the pressure up at Downtown, we need to continue to show up and keep the pressure up at County level
Fernanda Gomez, Your responsibility is to represent us, you are present at all events with a big smile and ready for a photo. But we need the same dedication during the crucial moments, the decisions here are done by five... but the responsibilities outside is for only two. All that glitters is NOT gold, we see photos on Social Medial, but during bad times we see the true faces of our leaders, now we need you more than ever, work for the well-being of our community. Every action counts and we are watching
Katrina Valdez Bishop, For the last 3 1/2 months my father has dutifully served the community as City Manager, coming out of retirement, to participate in what is now called A NOVELA, the City Council is trying to run this Town into the ground and my father refuses to play in what has become a Banana Republic. This is not about supporting my father's role, this is about elected officials know that your constituents, the people who have elected you into office, and most importantly, the people that you work for, are the people the Administration works for, are paying attention! Thank you for your time
Notice now that City Attorney Raul Gastesi moves to the back of the room, far right
Juan Carlos Esquivel, for over 21 years we have watched the growth flourish into the vibrant community we cherish here in Doral. Businesses have planted roots and we call Doral home. Doral has gone through more than 10 Managers / Assistant Managers. More than 10 changes in leadership in 21 years. Each of these changes due to political differences, deterring the needs Doral truly deserves. Constant refurbishment of leadership heightens the progress, it places a burden on the City's employees, on our businesses and more importantly, on the residents who rely on strong, consistent leadership to go forward. Doral is not just a stepping stone of the political ambitions, it is a home. As a resident, we need leadership that truly matters. Enough is enough! We the residents want a government that works for us not against itself. We want leaders that can set aside differences, find common ground and work together for the benefit of Doral. We need balance and stability not just in words but in action! We need leaders that can prioritize the future of Doral over political disagreements. Listen to our voices!
Carlos Bermudez: This year we have seen 3 times, the different ways the Council manages to change and move employees from positions. City Managers in this year alone. With 3 votes you got rid of Bermudez, with 3 votes you named a temporary manager that did not comply with the three votes, and later, the same 3 votes, Mr. Valdez, a good job so far, and now the same 3 votes want to review and revise his work, his salary, and employment agreement. I see it as a way to get rid of him. Why don't we have continuity? The same 3 votes are now reviewing him because he may not be doing what you want him to do, urge you to take care of the community NOT the political interests on the community, we have a great chance to change you in November. Respect the people of Doral, thank you!
Selma Garcia: Reminds the Council the City of Doral faces an opportunity to get rid of the incinerator, study demonstrates it will be harmful to Doral if re-built where it was. Wind blows from the east / communities NW / SW will be affected, more than 60,000 people are affected and 3% of that... put a name on the 1,800, go to the county and negotiate the value of those lives. The County has to STOP playing games with us!
Lisa Montaliano: Over 20 year resident, sad about what is going on with the incinerator / landfill. People that come from other countries do not even understand about the issues of the incinerator. Point is, Commissioners say Doral should pay which I find absurd, how much are they going to pay us for the air we breathe? GO 0 WASTE!
DID YOU KNOW? BELGIUM City gave everyone 3 Chicken and that eliminated Waste... 100 Tons eliminated from the landfill! And every home STOPED buying eggs!
What is the impact of Chickens to keep ZERO Waste living?
Mr. Curero and his child: United is the only way we can look solid, and please call for the community to unite and be present at the County meetings. The Council has use all means to notify the community, many do not know the problems we are facing, they do not know the incinerator will return if we don't participate. During public events tell us the truth and encourage everyone to learn about the problems we face to unite. We have not attended in mass as other Municipalities have done, only because we did not unite to in force, make presence. Miami Dade County Commissioners are NOT paying attention to Doral residents, property owners and businesses. The stand, walk about and do not seem to care about the health of the residents of Doral.
In the latest political confrontation in the City of Doral, City Manager Rey Valdes, a former Miami-Dade police officer, resigned Monday night during a special council meeting to discuss his job performance and salary reduction.
Five minutes before the agenda item was to be addressed, Valdes, who was hired as city manager in June, submitted his resignation letter.
“This proposed reduction in pay has nothing to do with my job performance but is retaliation for refusing to be the puppet of certain council members,” Valdes told the council. “The financial burden of this reduction would have resulted in some senior staff members earning more than myself, which would be unjust and unacceptable.”
According to public records, Valdes was hired with an annual salary of $245,000, approved by a 3-2 vote with the support of council members Maureen Porras, Digna Cabral, and Vice Mayor Oscar Puig-Corve. Mayor Christi Fraga and Councilman Rafael Pineyro opposed the appointment. At the time, Porras defended the salary, noting that the council had been prepared to offer up to $300,000 to attract the right candidate.
Two weeks earlier, on Sept. 17, a special meeting called by Porras to discuss Valdes’ salary and performance was canceled due to a lack of quorum. On that day, Porras expressed confidence in Valdes’ ability to succeed in the role, citing his experience as deputy city manager. She said “he needs a little guidance and should take the time to learn and listen to certain things.” On Monday night Porras said the proposed salary reduction was due to “inefficiencies” in his performance.
Porras was ready to propose a $29,000 salary reduction, setting Valdes’ pay at 5% above that of the assistant city manager, who earns $206,000. The reduction would bring Valdes’ salary below that of predecessor Barbara “Barbie” Hernandez, who made $238,442 before being fired by the council in January amid allegations of a conflict of interest.
In his letter to the council, Valdes said that during his three-month tenure he faced significant disagreements with Cabral and Porras, especially regarding personnel decisions. He said the council members wanted to terminate several employees for reasons unrelated to their job performance.
“The non-work-related cause for termination proposed by the council members was solely based on the fact that they were appointed by former City Manager Barbara “Barbie” Hernandez who in turn was appointed by Mayor Fraga,” Valdes said. “During a budget meeting with Councilwoman Cabral, she advised me that if I did not terminate the employment of the City’s Chief Financial Officer, she would take official action as a council member to have my salary reduced.”
Valdes told the Miami Herald that the council members had requested he fire about half-dozen employees, ranging from high-level administration officials to receptionists. “They didn’t want to eliminate the positions, just to fire those specific employees,” he said.
At the meeting, Cabral said she had told Valdes changes were needed in several departments. “It’s my right, not to fire anyone but to evaluate where the costs are going.”
Porras denied to the Herald instructing Valdes to fire city employees. “What I did mention were several issues that concerned me, particularly in the IT department,” she said, referencing a ‘data breach’ involving council members that occurred in January.
She added that one of her main concerns was Valdes’ lack of direct involvement in supervising department activities. “There were several times when he needed to take more initiative in understanding what was happening within the departments and make decisions accordingly. I wanted him to take on a more active managerial role because, ultimately, he is the City Manager,” Porras said. “I also expected more participation in city events to observe how these events were being organized and run.”
Valdes’ resignation marks another administration change in what has been a tumultuous year for the city, with four city managers in just eight months. Fraga criticized the city’s lack of continuity and progress. “These three council members will continue to fire people that do not do what they want,” she said.
Valdes asked the council whether they preferred he provide the city with a 90-day notice or have his resignation take immediate effect. In a 4-1 vote the council agreed his last day will be Dec. 31.
OTHER ACTION
In an almost six-hour meeting spanning two sessions, the city approved a motion to continue negotiations with the county regarding the relocation of an incinerator outside city limits and a new budget.
The incinerator negotiation followed a setback at a Miami-Dade Commission meeting. The county requested a $400 million contribution from Doral — far surpassing the $20 million the city council offered as part of a 30-year commitment to fund the relocation.
The new budget, set at $137.5 million, included amendments proposed by Porras featuring a 4% cost-of-living adjustment for all employees and the possibility of up to a 6.5% merit increase.
The new budget will also eliminate the mayor’s outreach coordinator position and a clerical aide role in the city manager’s office. Additional cuts will affect the public affairs department, including reduced funding for promotional activities and advertising.
The budget was ultimately approved in a 3-2 vote. Porras, Cabral and Puig-Corve voted in favor, while Fraga and Pineyro voted against.
Read more at: https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/doral/article293299769.html#storylink=cpy
Doral, Florida: Jose Manuel Carvajal Zaldivar, a Regueton singer known by the name of 'El Tiger' fighting for his life after being shot...
The trend for housing is always to be close to water for the view... but the power of storms when we are close to water is a real and present danger...
Watch a?Tennessee?bridge collapse into the Nolichucky River on Saturday, when the river surged with floodwater caused by remnants of Hurricane Helene.
A whole segment is removed and watch how the segment on the right is about to go
Segment to the right detaches and soon enough it submerges
Now it may appear as if it is gone but it is either at the bottom or being carried by the water
The power of torrential water widens and deepens a river which now carries everything that came from whatever has been removed because of the force of the current
And... as with all river systems, the water will flow either toward the sea or through the states, cities, along the river path!
After?Helene?made landfall in the Big Bend of Florida Thursday night, the Category 4 hurricane drenched parts of the Southeast with torrential rains and dangerous floodwaters.
New video shows one of the affected areas was East Tennessee, where the Nolichucky River rose and produced a powerful current that picked up trees and other debris downstream.
The power of this current was evident when Kisner Bridge on Highway 107 in the town of Afton collapsed into the Nolichucky, which had risen high enough to reach the bridge.
“Get Out Of The Way!” said Landon Duckett, who filmed the video, to a man standing close to the river as the middle of the bridge collapsed.
Not long after, the rest of the bridge crumbled into the river, leaving only the sections of the highway built on land.
10-03-2024 From Brazil on Israel
'Anyone who can't unequivocally condemn Iran's heinous attack on Israel, as almost every country in the world has done, does not deserve to step foot on Israeli soil!'
Israel denies entry to United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres amid tensions with Iran: Israel's Foreign Minister announced on October 2, that UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has been barred from entering the country. The decision stems from Guterres' failure to "unequivocally condemn" a recent missile attack launched by Iran against Israel
Hope, dearest,
It's incredible how Brazil is closely linked to Israel! Remember that the UN secretary who worked for the creation of the State of Israel was a Brazilian.
We see Israeli flags being carried and displayed everywhere.
I believe I sent you a lot of stuff where you could see flags being displayed and flown together with ours. It's not just evangelicals who carry them.
Brazil roots for and prays for Israel.
I loved this article. Very enlightening. I'll send it to my Algerian friend who discusses the issue of Zionism vs the State of Israel with me a lot.He says Netanyahu is a zionist.?
Logically, based on Wikipedia's definitions of rewriting history, I don't even know what it will be like in the future.
I learned in school that the Brazilian Osvaldo Aranha presided over the Second UN General Assembly, where the UN Plan for the partition of Palestine was voted on in 1947, which culminated in the creation of the State of Israel in 1948, a fact that earned Aranha eternal gratitude from Jews and Zionists for his actions. This was thus a historic milestone in Brazil's relations with the State of Israel. This has nothing to do with the nonsense our thieving president said when he spoke at the UN last week. It is a disgrace to the millions of Brazilians who do not agree with him. We are with Israel forever!
When possible tell me about this Jewish X Zionism problematic subject.
Claudia Sheinbaum, the first Female President in Mexico is installed in office
Claudia Sheinbaum, the first Female President in Mexico is installed in office
Claudia Sheinbaum, the first Female President in Mexico is installed in office
A psychologist will review her first videos to analyze her expressions... what?
领英推荐
Mexico: 6 Migrants killed after Mexican soldiers fire on pick-up truck that contained 33 migrants [Indian, Cubans, Egypt, Nepalese, Pakistani nationalities]
Six migrants died after Mexican soldiers fired on a group of 33 migrants traveling in a pick-up truck that had tried to evade a military patrol, underlining tensions at Mexico's southern border as it faces US pressure to contain migration.
Chuck Rabin, writing news stories for the Miami Herald for the past three decades, covers cops and crime. Before that he covered the halls of government for Miami-Dade and the city of Miami. He’s covered hurricanes, the 2000 presidential election and the Marjory Stoneman Douglas mass shooting. On a random note: Long before those assignments, Chuck was pepper-sprayed covering the disturbances in Miami the morning Elián Gonzalez was whisked away by federal authorities.
Phone: 305-376-3672 Email: [email protected]
A vehicle repairman accused last month of the attempted murder of an Opa-locka city commission candidate was cleared of the charge Wednesday - yet remains on house arrest and is now only permitted to leave his home to go to work, the grocery store or court. Anthony Mitchell, 50, appeared briefly Wednesday morning before Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Zachary James and was told he will remain under home detention as he fights a battery charge from an August confrontation with Opa-locka commission candidate Chris Davis. Mitchell’s attorney Michael Pizzi petitioned James to release Mitchell from detention, arguing the dropping of the attempted murder charge was a substantial change and that his client should be freed.
“He’s on the verge of losing his job,” Pizzi said.
James agreed to loosen the restrictions, but opted to keep Mitchell on home arrest until his December trial date. Outside the courtroom, Pizzi said his client was jailed after a “bald faced lie.” And the attorney said he’d never had a client who was under house arrest for a battery charge. Mitchell, who refused to speak to the media, stood by his side.
“It’s absurd,” said the attorney. Mitchell, who lives with a wife and his daughter, was charged with attempted murder with a weapon and aggravated battery on Aug. 21 after getting into a brawl with Davis, who was elected as a city commissioner in 2018 and lost a mayoral race in the city two years ago.
His arrest report claimed Davis was returning from the store with some wood for signs when Mitchell’s brother approached him and threw a punch. Davis allegedly knocked him down. Then Mitchell briefly brawled with Davis but as Davis got into his truck and tried to leave, the report says, Mitchell fired and struck the vehicle.
On Wednesday, Pizzi provided video footage from a police body-worn camera that showed a lengthy interaction between Davis and law enforcement.
During the conversation, the candidate admitted to knocking out Mitchell’s brother and told officers he heard gunshots and it must have been Mitchell who fired the weapon - though he never saw him. He also showed police what he said was a bullet hole in his truck. Before state prosecutors dropped the attempted murder charge, Pizzi filed affidavits with the court from family members who said Mitchell has never owned a gun or had one that they’ve seen.
He also had a sworn statement from a corrections officer who said he saw Mitchell and his brother that night after the tussle with Davis and neither was armed.
“They put him on house arrest for a glorified misdemeanor,” said Pizzi. No charges have been filed against Davis or Tommy Johnson, Mitchell’s brother.
This story was originally published October 2, 2024, 4:19 PM.
While the Broward fraudster who ran a $196 million Ponzi scheme out of a Pompano Beach strip mall sits in federal prison awaiting sentencing, the Securities and Exchange Commission charged five people with helping execute the scam.
Last week, the SEC filed complaints against West Miami-Dade lawyer Karina Fernandez, Doral’s Leonela Duarte, North Lauderdale’s Bryan Guayara, Tamarac’s Marco Rosas and Margate’s Erick Ruiz for their roles in the MJ Capital Funding securities fraud and operating as unlicensed brokers.
The scam was run by North Lauderdale’s Johanna Garcia, MJ Capital’s president.
MJ Capital’s website once crowed that she’s “often referred to as ‘Mother Teresa’ in her community” for helping people get the cash flow they need to make their small businesses go.
Now, MJ Capital’s website redirects to a site run by Kozyak Tropin Throckmorton, the law firm of court-appointed receiver Bernice Lee. “Mother Teresa” sleeps in the Federal Detention Center in Miami. She’s scheduled to be sentenced Oct. 31 in Judge Jose Martinez’s court after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit mail fraud and wire fraud.
Last week’s charges, being civil and not criminal, won’t result in any of the five joining Garcia, plus Pavel Ruiz Hernandez and Christian Gonzalez who were also sentenced to prison for their MJ Capital scam activities.
The SEC charges seek to recover money earned by the scam, to impose civil penalties and limit future financial activities. Garcia has already been charged by the SEC with the money penalty to be determined. None of the case dockets listed lawyers for Fernandez, Duarte, Guayara, Rosas or Ruiz. Fernandez hung up on a Miami Herald reporter Wednesday.
THE MJ CAPITAL FUNDING FRAUD
Some businesses legitimately make merchant cash advances (MCAs) — short term, high interest loans to businesses, similar to payday loans to individuals. MJ Capital Funding claimed to do this from the Pompano Beach strip mall at 2754 W. Atlantic Blvd.
Instead, Garcia’s admission with her guilty plea says MJ Capital operated as a Ponzi scheme from June 2020 through August 2021. Of the $196 million raised, only $923,000 was used for MCAs.
“MJ Capital funded only a relatively small numbers of MCAs and failed to earn the profits it needed to pay the investor returns and principal promised investors,” the guilty plea says.
“As a result, Garcia and her co-conspirators paid investor returns by paying existing investors using new investor funds.” Meanwhile, Garcia and her associates “misappropriated at least $7.35 million of investor funds on a variety of purchases unrelated to the business, including credit card payments, travel, entertainment, restaurants, and luxury goods and clothing,” the SEC complaints say.
If you tell investors you’ll spend their money on a business and just spend the money on your personal life business, that’s fraud. These SEC charges say the five hid these truths about MJ Capital from investors and profited from it. READ MORE: Aventura CEO’s sentence in ripoff of 3,400 investors: 1 year per each $50 million stolen
KARINA FERNANDEZ
Fernandez, who graduated from Tulane Law and became a Florida Bar member in 2019, ran a team of 64 sales agents as an MJ Capital manager.
She raised relatively little compared to the other four, the complaint against her said, $891,000 from 89 investors from November 2020 through August 2021.
But, Fernandez, the complaint says, brought MJ Capital to the digital world through Zoom meetings and activity on an Instagram page, “Entrepreneur | Lawyer on Instagram.”
The complaint says in a 2021 Instagram live video, Fernandez claimed investors who put $6,000 into MJ Capital, getting 10% per month, could have $100,000 in three years.
Another video, the complaint said, Fernandez said she turned money made from an “absolutely amazing” investment into an investment portfolio that allowed her to leave her job as an attorney.
“She based her claim...on the commissions she received from selling MJ Capital’s securities and her parents covering her living expenses, not on her investment portfolio as she stated in the video,” the complaint said.
“In fact, at the time she posted the video, Fernandez had only invested $4,000 with MJ Capital, which provided for a monthly “return” of 10%, or $400 a month.”
In May, “Fernandez created and sent a video to her sales agents through either a Telegram or WhatsApp chat stating that MJ Capital was not operating a Ponzi scheme and explaining why it was not doing so,” the complaint also said.
“She sent this video to her sales team because some of them asked her whether MJ Capital was a Ponzi scheme.” Also, like the others, the SEC says Fernandez acted as an unregistered broker while dealing in MJ Capital and MJ Taxes’ unregistered securities.
The complaint estimates she made about $362,000 in commission from MJ Capital, split by $132,000 in cash and $230,000 to her through her company, KNF International.
State records for the now-inactive company say Karina Fernandez was the CEO and Sussy Fernandez was the manager of the company based out of Sussy Fernandez’s home.
karinaaa1594
When you’re engaged in what you love to do, it’s like driving in the fast lane ?? Time flies by and more roads open up to you. When you have an abundant and open mindset, it’s crazy how things change. It’s not that your life has changed, it’s that your perspective has changed ??
LEONELA DUARTE
The SEC complaint against Duarte claims she “personally raised at least $1.8 million from about 90 investors in the United States and abroad” from September 2020 through August 2021.
“She often met in person with prospective investors to tell them about the MJ Capital investment opportunity,” her complaint says.
This personal touch added up to $1.6 million in commissions from MJ Capital, the complaint said, paid through three now-inactive companies run out of an AMLI 8800 apartment in Doral: HAMN, LLC, managers Leonela Duarte Colina and Harry Medina Navarro; Le Duarte USA LLC; and Leduarte, Corp.
READ MORE: A Miami lawyer got caught lying about cases — and her time as a Broward public defender
BRYAN GUAYARA
The complaint against Guayara describes him as “a lead sales agent and “board member” of MJ Capital” although he doesn’t appear as an officer on the state filings for MJ Capital Funding or MJ Taxes & More.
Guayara and his team of 44 sales agents raised, the complaint says, about $7.6 million from about 720 investors nationwide from June 2020 through August 2021. His team made $12.7 million in commissions, about $2.3 million went to him. That broke down, the complaint says, as $781,000 directly to Guayara and $1.6 million to DavibezCreations LLC, which Guayara ran out of a Plantation commercial building.
MARCO ROSAS
Rosas’ complaint calls him “an MJ Capital board member” as well as a manager running about 30 sales agents. From July 2020 through August 2021, Rosas lured $6.1 million from about 377 investors.
This earned his sales team about $4.2 million in commissions.
Rosas, the complaint said,
ERICK RUIZ
Ruiz’s complaint calls him a “lead sales agent and manager” of MJ Capital.
His team of 11 sales agents raised $2.5 million from about 240 people from July 2020 through August 2021.
Ruiz made $1.5 million in commissions.
The complaint said he received that in $1.1 million in checks, $60,000 in cash and $400,000 to Four Corners Investors Group LLC., which Ruiz ran out of his Margate house.
The SEC’s ongoing investigation is being done by the Miami offices of Raynette R. Nicoleau and Julia D’Antonio with the litigation handled by Stephanie N. Moot.
By: DAVID J. NEAL, MIAMI HERALD 305-376-3559
Since 1989, David J. Neal’s domain at the Miami Herald has expanded to include writing about Panthers (NHL and FIU), Dolphins, old school animation, food safety, fraud, naughty lawyers, bad doctors and all manner of breaking news. He drinks coladas whole.
He does not work Indianapolis 500 Race Day.
When we planned this episode of Honestly, I thought we would be looking back at the past year from a slightly quieter vantage point. We were going to release it on October 7. But quiet is the last thing happening in the Middle East right now. The war that Iran outsourced to its proxies since October 7, 2023 has now become a war explicitly between Iran and Israel.
Hours before I sat down with Douglas Murray in New York City, Iran launched over 100 ballistic missiles toward Israel. As Israel’s 9 million citizens huddled in bomb shelters, a handful of them made a direct impact. For a lot of Americans, it still feels like a faraway war. But it is not.
There are not many bright lines that divide good and evil. This is one of them. This is a war between Israel and Iran. But it’s also a war between civilization and barbarism. That was true some 360 days ago. And it’s even more true today. And yet this testing moment has been met with alarming moral confusion.
Consider a few examples from the last week. At the United Nations, 12 countries, including the U.S., presented a plan for a ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon without mentioning the word Hezbollah. Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib tweeted, “Our country is funding this bloodbath,” minutes after Israel assassinated the leader of the most fearsome terrorist army on the planet, Hassan Nasrallah, who, The New York Times described as “beloved,” “a towering figure” and “a powerful orator.” Here in New York, students chanted for an intifada moments after the Jewish community memorialized six civilian hostages murdered by Hamas. At Yale this week, students chanted, “From Gaza to Beirut, all martyrs we salute.” That’s just a few examples from the past week.?
No one I know understands the moral urgency of this moment better than Douglas Murray. Douglas isn’t Jewish. He has no Israeli family members, although I know a lot of Israeli families who consider him an adoptive family member. And it is Douglas, more than almost anyone in the world, who has articulated the stakes of this war with the moral clarity it requires.?
Douglas’s work as a reporter has taken him to Iraq, North Korea, northern Nigeria, Ukraine, and most recently, of course, to Israel, where he has become a celebrity. When you walk down the streets of Tel Aviv with Douglas Murray, it’s like being with The Beatles. He’s also the best-selling author of seven books, a regular contributor at the New York Post, National Review, and most importantly, at The Free Press, where he writes the beloved Sunday column, Things Worth Remembering. There is just no one I would rather be sitting with as we watch the Middle East and, really, the world transformed before our eyes.?
On what brought us to this moment. And what’s next after Iran’s missile attack on Israel:
Bari Weiss: We are speaking on the eve of what some people are saying feels like the beginning of World War III. And I guess the first question I want to ask you is, how did we get here? How did we get to a moment where Iran is dropping 100 ballistic missiles on Israel? And, you know, Israel is vowing to respond to it. What are the factors that led us to this moment??
Douglas Murray: Probably with the plane that took off in 1979 from Paris, taking the Ayatollah Khomeini to Tehran[, Iran]. This is one of the worst journeys of the twentieth century. All of this starts from there.?
Iran had the opportunity to be a progressive country in the region. In the 1970s, Israel had an ambassador in Iran. There was the opportunity for normalization. But the revolutionary Islamic government in Tehran chose a different path. It’s an apocalyptic terror movement. The revolutionary Islamic government decided to oppress the people it presumes to govern and try to expand itself across the region. And my worry early in the period after October 7th was always that Hamas would take up all of the energy and that Israel wouldn’t be allowed, as it were, to do what else needed to be done. But as it happens, as we come to the first anniversary, the tide has turned. And the Israeli government and the Israeli armed forces and military have shown that there was a price to pay for trying to eradicate the Jewish people. And the price is high, and it should always have been high, and it will probably get higher.?
Hamas is almost completely destroyed. Its cowardly leader, Yahya Sinwar, is hiding in the tunnels somewhere in the south of Gaza surrounded by what he would regard as the best hostages. That’s his end. In less than two weeks, Hezbollah has been utterly destroyed. Three thousand of his operatives, they couldn’t trust their cell phones, decided to go to old-fashioned pager devices. But someone we don’t know put explosives in all of those pager devices. And so 3,000 of their operatives in one moment across Lebanon and Syria all suffered grievous injury. The next day, their walkie-talkies blew up. By day three, they couldn’t trust putting on a kettle in Beirut. Then, best of all, when Benjamin Netanyahu came to New York last week, he went onstage to the UN. I watched from the gallery as the traditional walk out of various despots and dictators and their minions occurred. Somewhere in Beirut, Hassan Nasrallah was watching Benjamin Netanyahu on television, and that’s when Hassan Nasrallah went to meet his maker.?
BW: It’s like the baptism scene from The Godfather.?
DM: I was told by a Jewish friend the other day that apparently there is something in the Torah that says one should not take enormous delight in the decimation of one’s foes. But I’m not Jewish, and so I don’t have to follow this.?...
What Israel has managed to accomplish over the past two weeks will long be studied by military historians.
In a series of brilliant operations—beginning with the simultaneous explosion of encrypted pagers belonging to Hezbollah’s commanders, and culminating with the coup de grace on Friday that eliminated the organization’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah, and the rest of his high command—Israel managed to decapitate the entire leadership of the most fearsome terrorist army on the planet. In so doing, it ignored the advice of its allies in the West, and radically disrupted the balance of power in the Middle East.
Hezbollah’s war is not just with Israel. It has American, Syrian and Lebanese blood on its hands as well.?
Recall that in 1983, the group killed 241 servicemen with a massive bomb at the Marines barracks in Beirut. The organization was also responsible for the 1994 bombing of the AMIA Cultural Center bombings in Buenos Aires, in which 85 innocent people were murdered. In 2012, Hezbollah bombed a buswith young Israeli tourists at the port of Burgas, Bulgaria that left five dead and 32 injured.?
But Hezbollah’s bloodiest campaign was reserved for Syria, where it became the shock troops for the country’s tyrant, Bashar al-Assad, during his brutal suppression of a democratic uprising. Hezbollah’s forces led the ground operations in the siege of Aleppo, a vicious campaign in 2015 and 2016 that starved the ancient city and reduced most of it to rubble.?
A day after Hamas launched its pogrom of October 7, Hezbollah began raining rockets and missiles into northern Israel, displacing up to 100,000 Israelis. Nearly a year later, those people have not been able to return to their homes.?
With this kind of butcher’s bill, one might think the response from the civilized world upon learning of Nasrallah’s death would be jubilation. But Western leaders have responded with reticence. In this they have revealed their profound confusion about the enemy. It is not a nation-state, a terror group or even an ideology. From Washington to Paris, they seem to believe the real enemy is escalation.??...
Daniel P. Moynihan in July 1975, as the new U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, speaking to a press conference. (Bettmann/Getty Images)
Welcome to Douglas Murray’s column, “Things Worth Remembering,” in which he presents great speeches that we should commit to heart. Scroll down to listen to Douglas reflect on Daniel Patrick Moynihan’s 1975 speech, in which he reminded America that Zionism is not racism.
For the last week, hordes of diplomats have been wining and dining their way around Manhattan, where they have been quartered for the United Nations General Assembly. Anyone familiar with this annual circus could be forgiven for tuning out.
So it might have escaped your notice that multiple UN grandees have availed themselves of this illustrious opportunity to demonize the world’s sole Jewish state. Israel is battling Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon, two terrorist groups that will not rest until they have obliterated a nation America has always counted among its closest allies.
And yet, this week, very few Americans seemed to bat an eyelid when a self-professed democratic leader—Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdo?an—said, on U.S. soil, on the first day of the General Assembly: “Just as Hitler was stopped by the alliance of humanity 70 years ago, Netanyahu and his murder network must also be stopped by the alliance of humanity.”
A historically illiterate, deeply offensive comparison between the architect of the genocide of European Jewry and the leader of the world’s only Jewish state. How could Erdo?an justify saying such a thing in a room full of global leaders??
Sadly, it’s an easy question to answer. Thugs and autocrats and antisemites have always viewed the United Nations as a cudgel meant to batter the West. Just as every country on Earth whose name includes “the people’s republic” is neither for the people or a republic, every UN member that uses its membership to decry the deaths of innocents in Gaza—but not Syria, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Iran, North Korea, China, or anywhere else—could not care less about innocents. This is posturing pure and simple, and it’s meant to elevate Erdo?an’s standing among his fellow bottom-feeders while cornering Israel, undermining its raison d’être, chipping away at the founding ideals of the United Nations.
Unfortunately, the American president lacks the fortitude or moral vision to say as much. In his remarks in New York, Joe Biden offered up a potpourri of platitudes that will move no one: “Full-scale war is not in anyone’s interest,” “a diplomatic solution is still possible,” and so forth.
To imagine what might have been, we may recall a very different Irish Catholic Democrat, who, 49 years ago, gave a very different speech at the United Nations. One that robustly defended Israel. One that condemned the organization’s treatment of the Jewish state. One that articulated the values of democracy and pluralism and tolerance, which so many Western leaders now seem congenitally incapable of articulating.
I refer, of course, to the late, great Daniel Patrick Moynihan—who was the U.S. ambassador to the UN during one of its most egregious betrayals of Israel...
The high school teacher was dismissed in 2018 after he refused to use a student’s preferred male pronouns, opting to use the student’s name instead.
A Virginia school board has agreed to pay $575,000 in damages and legal fees to settle a lawsuit brought by former high school French teacher Peter Vlaming, who was dismissed after refusing to use a transgender student’s preferred pronouns, citing religious convictions.
The settlement, announced on Sept. 30 by the legal advocacy group Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), resolves the case Vlaming filed against the West Point School Board. Vlaming argued that his dismissal violated his First Amendment rights after he refused to comply with the superintendent’s demand that he refer to a transgender student by pronouns inconsistent with the student’s biological sex.
Tyson Langhofer, director of the ADF Center for Academic Freedom and senior counsel for ADF, which represented Vlaming in his lawsuit, praised the settlement.
“Peter wasn’t fired for something he said; he was fired for something he?couldn’t say,” Langhofer said in a statement. “He couldn’t in good conscience speak messages that he knew were untrue, and no school board or government official can punish someone for that reason.”
Vlaming’s case, which began in 2019, became a focal point in the ongoing national debate over free speech, religious liberty, and transgender rights in education. The case gained renewed attention in December 2023, when the Virginia Supreme Court reinstated Vlaming’s lawsuit after it had been dismissed?by a lower court. The decision ultimately led to the settlement and voluntary dismissal of the case.
Vlaming was fired in 2018 after he refused to refer to a transgender student by the student’s preferred male pronouns, citing sincerely held religious beliefs that gender is biologically determined and cannot be changed. Vlaming opted to use the student’s preferred name while avoiding the use of any pronouns. However, school administrators insisted he must use the student’s male pronouns in accordance with the district’s anti-discrimination policy. When Vlaming refused, the school board terminated his employment.
“I was wrongfully fired from my teaching job because my religious beliefs put me on a collision course with school administrators who mandated that teachers ascribe to?only one perspective on gender identity—their preferred view,” Vlaming said in a statement. “I loved teaching French and gracefully tried to accommodate every student in my class, but I couldn’t say something that directly violated my conscience.”
In response to his dismissal, Vlaming sued the West Point School Board, arguing that the school violated his First Amendment rights under the Virginia Constitution. He claimed his rights to free speech and religious expression were infringed when he was forced to comply with what he described as “government-mandated pronouns in addition to using the student’s preferred name,” per the state Supreme Court ruling. Initially, a lower court dismissed the case, finding that Vlaming’s claims did not constitute legally viable causes of action.
The Virginia Supreme Court overturned the lower court’s dismissal of the Vlaming’s lawsuit, arguing that it raised substantial constitutional questions, while noting that it was the court’s view that the Virginia Constitution “seeks to protect diversity of thought, diversity of speech, diversity of religion, and diversity of opinion.”
“Our Constitutional Republic, framed upon principles of classical liberalism, cannot be true to itself if it curates between those who can and those who cannot participate in the public marketplace of ideas and retreat, when necessary, to the private sanctuary of conscience,” reads the state Supreme Court’s majority opinion. “Absent a truly compelling reason for doing so, no government committed to these principles can lawfully coerce its citizens into pledging verbal allegiance to ideological views that violate their sincerely held religious beliefs.”
In addition to reinstating the case, the Virginia Supreme Court upheld two key claims: Vlaming’s assertion that his right to freely exercise his religion had been violated, and his breach-of-contract claim against the school board. The ruling paved the way for the settlement announced by ADF on Sept. 30.
Under the terms of the settlement, the West Point School Board will pay $575,000 to Vlaming, covering damages and legal fees. The board has also cleared Vlaming’s termination from his record, allowing Vlaming to pursue teaching positions without the stigma of dismissal.
West Point Public Schools Superintendent Larry L. Frazier Jr. expressed satisfaction with the settlement, emphasizing that it would not negatively impact the school community.
“As we move forward, WPPS will continue to be a place where all students feel safe, respected, and welcomed on a daily basis,” Frazier said in a statement to several media outlets. “Our focus is on all students, and our goal is to continue building positive relationships throughout our school division community.”
By Tom Ozimek: Tom Ozimek is a senior reporter for The Epoch Times.
He has a broad background in journalism, deposit insurance, marketing and communications, and adult education.
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