Developer Sergio Pino’s wife accused him of poisoning her, divorce records show

The wife of a major Miami-Dade builder whose properties were raided by FBI agents this week accused her husband of poisoning her, according to a sworn statement she gave after she filed for divorce in 2022.

Tatiana Pino, who married developer Sergio Pino in 1992, said she was hospitalized multiple times and that doctors found fentanyl in her system. The detail emerged during a review of the couple’s divorce proceedings in Miami-Dade Circuit Court hours after the Miami Herald first reported that an FBI squad conducted a search of Sergio Pino’s Cocoplum estate and Coral Gables office Monday night as part of an investigation into threats against Tatiana Pino’s life.

Over the past two years, Pino and his wife have been battling each other in a divorce case that is headed for trial in July, according to court records.

Read more: FBI investigating developer Sergio Pino’s possible link to threats against wife’s life

Tatiana filed for divorce in April 2022. She gave a deposition as part of the divorce proceedings in September of that year.

“Do you believe that your husband poisoned you?” Sergio Pino’s attorney asked Tatiana.

“I believe that he did,” Tatiana responded. She went on to say that she was sick for three years and “in and out of hospitals.”

She alleged that her symptoms, which included breathing issues, continued to worsen, and that doctors struggled to diagnose her. She said she was admitted to Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore in 2022, and that she was intubated six times. At that hospital, Tatiana said, doctors detected fentanyl in her system.

Before she was released, Tatiana testified, her doctor told her to stay at her sister’s house while she recuperated rather than returning home to her “normal surroundings.”

“They were scared for me because had this happened to me again, I would have been dead,” Tatiana said.

After that, her symptoms began to subside, she said, testifying that “I haven’t had one symptom” since she moved out.

During the deposition, Sergio Pino’s attorney questioned the basis for the poisoning allegation, asking Tatiana what motive her husband would have.

“Well, I just don’t think that my housekeepers would have a motive,” Tatiana said. “He would have a money motive maybe. A financial motive.”

Sergio Pino’s attorney pressed Tatiana for more details. She responded, saying the alleged poisoning was under investigation by the federal Drug Enforcement Agency. Tatiana’s attorney then advised her not to speak about the investigation.

“When you say he actually poisoned you, you don’t know that, correct?” Sergio Pino’s attorney asked. “You don’t know that he poisoned you? Based on what you already told me, you suspect it?”

Tatiana’s attorney Raymond Rafool intervened, advising his client not to speak about an ongoing investigation. Rafool told the Miami Herald on Friday that his understanding is the FBI and the U.S. Attorney’s Office have taken over the case from the DEA.

In response to the allegation that Sergio Pino poisoned his wife, his attorney, Deanna Shifrin, said in an email on Saturday that Tatiana has been seen by many medical professionals over the years, and that she said under oath that none has confirmed her illness was caused by poisoning.

“In other words,” Shifrin said, “there is no objective evidence that Mrs. Pino was poisoned by anyone.”

Shifrin said Sergio Pino has been the “victim of threats and acts of vandalism during his divorce proceedings.”

“To be clear, Mr. Pino is devastated by these attacks against him and his family and denies any suggestion that he is responsible for them,” Shifrin said.

On May 3, 2022 — less than a month after Tatiana Pino filed for divorce — an article published on a website called ABC Noticias claimed that she had been admitted to Johns Hopkins Hospital in March of that year due to an apparent fentanyl overdose.

The story, which had no author name and did not cite any sources, identified her in Spanish as the “wife of well-known Miami real estate developer Sergio Pino” and said she was accompanied at the hospital by her sister and a friend. The publication suggested it was “not the first time this has happened” and that the friend may have provided her with the fentanyl.

It was not clear who provided the information for the story. ABC Noticias was registered as a website in July of 2021 and is not affiliated with ABC News.

‘A lavish and luxurious lifestyle’

The couple’s divorce battle has been going on for over two years. Tatiana, who now resides in Pinecrest, has stated in court filings that she is entitled to alimony.

“ … Ms. Pino stopped her employment and forewent her career to be a stay-at-home mother for the parties children and be a homemaker,” the divorce petition says. “Ms. Pino is unemployed outside of the home whereas the Husband is an extremely successful businessman and entrepreneur.”

It goes on to say that the Pinos “live a lavish and luxurious lifestyle,” but that Tatiana is not able to sustain that standard of living on her own.

In a counter-petition, Sergio Pino said Tatiana “expressly waived her right” to alimony through their 1992 marital agreement.

But in a subsequent filing, Tatiana Pino alleged that she signed the post-nuptial agreement “under duress and coercion.” According to the filing from Tatiana’s lawyer, the couple was initially married in a civil ceremony on April 9, 1992. But then on May 1 — on the eve of their “long-planned religious wedding ceremony and party” — Sergio Pino allegedly “ambushed” Tatiana with the agreement.

“These factors caused Ms. Pino to feel like she could not say no to signing the Postnuptial Agreement without disappointing her Husband — who she trusted — and also her family and friends who were looking forward to the following day’s celebration,” the filing states. For that reason, Tatiana argues that that the marital agreement is not enforceable.