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Miami Beach
Operation Renovation
The arrests of three more building inspectors prove that,
sometimes, bribery doesn’t pay
By Ben Torter
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Andres
Villarreal |
Henry Johnson |
Mohammad
Partovi |
Thomas Ratner |
One former and two current
Miami Beach building inspectors were arrested Wednesday on charges
ranging from bribery to racketeering.
Local developer Michael Stern wore both video and audio wires to
help police prove that he bribed Mohammad R. Partovi, Henry
Johnson and Andres Villarreal with upwards of $150,000 to help
expedite building permits and other paperwork for various projects
throughout the city. The three men were arrested after a more than
nine-month investigation dubbed “Operation Renovation.”
Stern, the well-known owner of the historic Coral Rock House at
900
Collins Avenue and a Miami Beach Commission candidate last year,
was given immunity in exchange for his cooperation.
“What we have here is a unique insight into how the world of
corruption and bribery works,” State Attorney Katherine Fernandez
said during a press conference Wednesday afternoon, adding that
without Stern’s cooperation there would not have been a case.
Thomas Ratner,
Miami Beach’s
former Chief Electrical Inspector who was arrested on Sept. 13,
2006, at a Miami Beach Starbucks for taking a cash bribe from a
developer, initially told police that Stern had been bribing city
officials. Ratner, who is currently serving a 366-day state prison
sentence, agreed to help officials uncover more corruption as part
of his plea deal.
Villarreal, 49, the city’s chief building code compliance officer,
resigned about six months ago under a cloud of suspicion that he
was sexually harassing fellow employees. He is charged with one
count of racketeering, five counts of receiving unlawful
compensation and seven counts of money laundering. Ratner told
police that Villarreal gave him some of the bribe money that
Villarreal had received from Stern.
Stern told police that, in all, he had given an estimated $100,000
to Villarreal in the form of cash and checks to Triton Investment
Group and ARV Management, two companies he believed to be owned by
the former city inspector. He also bought Villarreal’s son a car
at a city auction, according to police.
Though the Coral Rock House is just one of many projects Stern paid
bribes to expedite, it is significant because of the intense fight
historians waged against Stern to preserve it.
“Stern said he was unsure of the exact amount paid to [Villarreal]
for the Coral Rock House, but said it was probably between $20,000
and $30,000,” according to his arrest warrant. The payments were
made between
Jan. 25, 2003 and
Jan. 24, 2004.
“It hurts doubly that it’s the Coral Rock House,” Miami Beach Mayor
Matti Herrera Bower said. “We have spent a tremendous amount of
money trying to preserve it, and here our own people were working
against it.”
Most of the house is still standing and will be renovated as part
of a deal worked out between Stern and Mitch Novick, a majority
owner of the Sherbrooke Hotel across
Collins Avenue.
Novick’s attorney Kent Harrison Robbins was flabbergasted when he
first heard of the arrests, but then said they made perfect sense.
“Novick always raised issues as to the unusual activities by
certain members of the building department and other city
officials, and their pushing for the demolition of the Coral Rock
House,” Robbins said.
Partovi, 50, the chief structural plans examiner for the city of
Miami Beach, was suspended without pay after his arrest Wednesday.
He is charged with one count of racketeering and four counts of
receiving unlawful compensation.
Police say that Stern told them that in 2000 Partovi was giving him
“a difficult time in regard to approving structural and building
inspections at a job site located at
600
Collins Avenue.” Allegedly, Partovi pulled Stern aside and
suggested, “We could come up with an agreement.”
During the next several years, Stern paid Partovi tens of thousands
of dollars to expedite plans. He and Stern communicated with hand
signals, each finger representing a dollar amount to be paid. Cash
was often exchanged in City Hall.
“Stern would then go into the men’s bathroom on the second floor of
City Hall and go inside the bathroom stall,” according Partovi’s
arrest warrant. “Once inside the bathroom stall, Stern would take
the cash and place it inside a roll of toilet paper. Stern would
go back to [Partovi] and advise him that the money was inside the
bathroom stall.”
When Partovi was arrested, he was wearing a Rolex watch worth more
than $5,000 that Stern bought him at Mayor’s Jewelers.
Johnson, 49, a planner with the city of
Miami Beach who was suspended after his arrest Wednesday, was
charged with one count of racketeering and two counts of receiving
unlawful compensation.
“Stern told [police] he could recall occasions on which he gave
[Johnson] between $2,000 and $8,000 in cash,” according to
Johnson’s arrest warrant. “Stern stated that, in consideration of
such payments, [Johnson] would promise to give him a significant
reduction on the concurrency mitigation impact fee to be paid by
him to the city of
Miami Beach.” These fees are paid by developers in varying
amounts, depending on how much projects affect surrounding
neighbors and city infrastructure.
Stern allegedly paid Johnson between $20,000 and $40,000 on several
projects throughout the city.
City Manager Jorge Gonzalez promised to have employees re-inspect
buildings to ensure they are structurally safe and sound, and to
make any necessary repairs or upgrades.
Stern’s attorney, Michael R. Band, insisted that there is nothing
to worry about — that the projects were properly inspected.
“They did inspect appropriately, and there were times they told Mr.
Stern ‘that’s just not going to cut it,’ and he had to upgrade the
work,” Band said. “The problem was getting an inspector to come
out and inspect.”
Stern paid the inspectors, Band said, to speed up the process.
Paying construction workers to sit around for days waiting for
inspectors to show up costs developers a lot of money, and bribes,
which are common, are often cheaper, Band said.
“You sit around with a [construction] crew and they’re jerking off
for a week, that’s a waste of money and the inspectors have you
over a barrel,” Band said.
Band reiterated that the Coral Rock House was only a small part of
the payments. “We are more than happy to have the city
re-inspected to make sure it is up to code,” Band said.
Fernandez-Rundle warned that police have more officials in their
sights.
“This investigation continues,” Fernandez-Rundle said. “It’s only a
matter of time before we will find out who you are…. It’s better
for you to come to us than for us to come to you.”
Stern is still cooperating with officials as part of his immunity
deal, and his attorney said he will do what they ask.
“[Stern] wore a wire and money passed hands,” Band said. “I suppose
if the defendants want a trial, Michael will testify at trial. The
words are the words on the tapes; there’s not going to be much to
dispute about that.”
Anyone with tips is urged to call the State Attorney’s public
corruption hotline at 305-547-3300.
Comments? E-mail
ben@miamisunpost.com
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