Sergio Pino, who flew county commissioner Pepe Diaz in 2004 on his private jet to his private yacht in the Gulf of Mexico-- sparking the interest of federal investigators questioning influence trading relating to one of Pino's Doral suburban sprawl projects-- just was hit with an enormous fine in a Miami federal court for wetlands violations. AS IN, CRIME. The Miami Herald reports, "Under the terms of a settlement approved this month by U.S. District Judge James Lawrence King in Miami, the builder must perform the wetlands work it originally pledge to complete and pay a $400,000 fine plus $60,000 in other regulatory fees-- an unusually stiff penalty in a wetlands-violation case."
It started out a good century for everything Century. Not so, lately.
In 2004 Hispanic Trends magazine and Nextel Communications named Pino, president and chief executive of Century Homebuilders, for its Best in Business Award 2004. Pino was recognized then as the top Hispanic entrepreneur in the country, making Century a top South Florida homebuilder with revenues surpassing $200 million in 2003, as well as for his contributions to the region’s Hispanic community. “Sergio puts 110 percent into whatever he does whether it is public service or running his very successful company,” said Gov. Jeb Bush, who has known Pino for many years.
In 2002, Pino's companies reimbursed $29,500 to 59 contributors to Bush's 2002 re-election campaign, violating Florida election laws that prohibit making donations in another person's name. These days, Pino's troubled loans are attracting national headlines. Suits and countersuits dog Pino loans.
In May 2010, The St. Pete Times noted the connection between Pino and Marco Rubio, who will be Florida's next US Senator. "Among (Rubio's) debts was a $135,000 home equity loan. It was based on an appraisal that said his West Miami home increased in value from $550,000 when he bought it in December 2005 with a $55,000 down payment to $735,000 just 37 days later. When the Miami Herald reported the loan in 2008, Rubio said he did not receive special treatment from Miami-based U.S. Century Bank, whose board of directors includes supporters like developer Sergio Pino. He said failing to include the loan on his state financial disclosure form was an "oversight," and amended it."
Pino was a Bush Ranger, contributing heavily to GOP candidates including former Gov. Bush and former President George W. Bush. Yesterday's federal court judgement, the judge cited Pino's "limited ability to pay" although according to the website CampaignMoney.com Pino gave $98,000 to political candidates in 2008 and $32,600 in 2010. Pino has contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars to the Jeb Bush entity, the Foundation for Florida's Future. The Foundation advocates "free market environmentalism" and specifically advocates a free market approach to protecting wetlands; an ideologically driven position that contains the ruins of Florida's environment. In August 2009, "Pino attempted to raise more than $50 million ... by taking advantage of a US law that offered green cards to foreign nationals who invested in (his) project."
Pino, sprawl builder icon, has been a persistent force in speculating on land outside the Urban Development Boundary of Miami-Dade, relying on his political muscle at the local level-- honed to razor skill in manipulating vendor contracts at Miami International Airport-- to change underlying zoning of unbuildable land at the county. In 2009 "people to watch in real estate, South Florida Business Journal noted: "Homebuilder Sergio Pino and a group of powerful partners are entering 2009 with a proposal for a massive project outside Miami-Dade County’s development boundary. The proposed Parkland project would produce 7,000 homes, plus fire stations, businesses, schools and parks southwest of Kendall- Tamiami Executive Airport. The review process on the 961-acre project began in 2008. Supporters and opponents voiced the familiar mantras of the necessity for growth versus the consequences of urban sprawl. Supporters said it’s a well-planned project that would produce jobs, and provide schools and amenities to neighborhoods that badly need them. Opponents argue the project would further undermine the buffer with the Everglades and spur sprawl. Miami-Dade County staff came out against the project, which would require moving the line that separates the county’s greatest density from some of its least-dense parcels. Staffers said it was unnecessary, arguing for development on available land inside the county’s urban development boundary. In addition to Pino, the partners in the Parkland project include Lennar Corp., Ed Easton and Adolfo Henriques, former president and CEO of Florida East Coast Industries." All are prominent supporters of Jeb! Bush.
Pino, guilty of federal violation of wetlands law, still travels on corporate jets and on private yachts. He called yesterday's fine-- one of the largest in in the history of wetland's violations-- a "consent decree".
Posted on Mon, Dec. 27, 2010
Home builder must pay $460,000 for wetlands violations
BY CURTIS MORGAN
cmorgan@MiamiHerald.com
When one of South Florida's largest home builders received a federal permit seven years ago for a development called Islands of Doral, the approval came with some conditions.To compensate for destroying 415 acres of maleleuca-infested wetlands in West Miami-Dade County, Century Homebuilders agreed to set aside another 47 acres and create a wetlands preserve by removing the exotic species and replanting with spikerush, pond apple and other native foliage.
Century never completed the job.
Under the terms of a settlement approved this month by U.S. District Judge James Lawrence King in Miami, the builder now must perform the wetlands work it originally pledged to complete and pay a $400,000 fine plus $60,000 in other regulatory fees -- an unusually stiff penalty in a wetlands-violation case.
Ignacio Moreno, an assistant attorney general for the U.S. Department of Justice's Environmental and Natural Resources Division, said in a statement that the case showed the federal government's commitment to enforcing wetlands-protection laws.
``The substantial penalty and other relief obtained in this case underscore a message to all builders that they must meet all conditions of the permit,'' Moreno said in a news release.
Century executives -- company president Sergio Pino, who signed the settlement called a ``consent decree,'' and Cesar Llano, vice president of land development -- did not respond to several telephone messages left in the past few weeks. Neither did Mitchell Widom, a Miami attorney who represented the company in the federal civil case filed in December 2009 by the Justice Department on behalf of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
In its response to the complaint, the company admitted it had not done much of the required wetlands enhancement required under the Corps permit, which included clearing invasive plants, building protective berms and planting more than 100,000 native plants. But it provided no explanations and also denied many of the alleged violations, including an allegation that it illegally filled one acre of the intended preserve when it dumped rock fill on surrounding lands to build the housing project.
The settlement, citing evidence from the developer about ``the limits of their ability to pay,'' gives the company two years to come up with the $400,000 fine -- $50,000 within six months, an additional $180,000 by Oct. 1, 2011, and $170,000 by the following Oct. 1. Century must also purchase $60,000 in wetlands ``mitigation credits'' that will be applied toward an ongoing wetlands-restoration project in Everglades National Park.
The Corps has been criticized over the years by environmentalists, Congress and government watchdog agencies for its lax oversight of so-called ``mitigation'' projects. Such projects are intended to offset development of wetlands by improving the environmental quality of other sites or even creating new wetlands.
In 2005, the U.S. Government Accountability Office issued a report that found the Corps did a poor job of determining whether developers followed through with promised work and rarely inspected the restored or constructed wetlands. In 2008, the Corps overhauled its policies.
In a written response to e-mail questions, the Corps' Jacksonville district said it first brought up the incomplete work with Century in 2006 ``and sought to informally resolve the noncompliance issues for the next three years.''
The fine ranks among the largest levied in recent years in such cases -- at least in Florida. In 2009, the Corps hit a Tampa-area developer with a $300,000 fine and 18-month work suspension for clearing an acre of forested wetlands and dumping muddy discharge into a creek that feeds into the Hillsborough River, a main source of drinking water for Tampa.
Royal Gardner, vice dean of law at Stetson University in Gulfport and a former Corps attorney on wetlands laws, said in an e-mail response to questions that, in the past, the agency focused more on illegally filled wetlands. Cases against builders that failed to performed promised mitigation projects were rarer, he said.
``If this is a fine for failure to do mitigation, then I'd characterize it as a significant penalty and a great precedent,'' he said.
© 2010 Miami Herald Media Company. All Rights Reserved.
http://www.miamiherald.com
Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/12/27/v-print/1990789/home-builder-must-pay-460000-for.html#ixzz19PuV0gIG
15 comments:
How much was the fine--it is your subject isn't it??
Yep.
Pino, and his posse, are one of the most criminally inclined group doing business in Miami. And yes, the breeding ground is the Jeb Bush poiitical entourage, which creates a special kind of maggot that feeds on business generated by financial support for any pimp who wants to make a run for office. Pino is one of the most brazen opportunists that this community has had the misfortune to have, and he is a number one contributor to turning our state into a political and business sewer!
It is a criminal syndicate.
He'll never pay the 460K its all just for show. Here's the playbook land gets 460K fine bank that holds the mortage on it sees it as one more headache and lowers its pants and lets SP buy back mortgagge for a song (probably with another entity name) then as part of the deal fine is negotiated down.
There won't be any headlines about the reduced fine.
He's Lennar's local boy. Every big production homebuilder needs one. They need someone to run the local traps. Seijas is his inside guy. Just watch who comes to vns' rescue.
I was not impressed by the Herald's soft coverage of his limited ability to pay.
Surely he has assets that can be seized and sold to cover the fine?
Whatever, but in the big scheme of things, for these guys 460 grand is just a cost of doing business
You're right about the Herald on Pino and his posse. Every time the Herald gets uppity, someone like Armando Codina calls up to complain or asks for a meeting to 'explain' what great things they do for the community. Then next thing you know US Century buys a full page ad. Nuff said.
Maybe Sergio could get some help from Lennar in paying his 2010 and prior year property taxes on M-D property owned in his name. When's Pino going to finish his Leucadendra house and put it on the tax rolls? Only about $6K in assessed value for the building in 2010? Give me a break!
Isn't he in debt up to his ears at Ocean's Bank?
The bruno recall hqs officially failed. Now we only have natacha and alverez to recall.
way too little, way too late
Do you mean Codina gets to go to the Herald and lecture reporters? Wow. Imagine if Pino were there too!
Obviously, some people don't know that Armando Codina is in business with Sergio Pino, and Miller, as well! That means they are all in business together. Well, we all know that Jeb Bush and Jose Cancela HAVE A LOT IN COMMON! LOL Codina is only doing what he learned from his daddy -- who was a Cuban senator during the Prio and Batista years, and obviously taught him that politics is to help one profit. What a bunch!
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