Miami Lakes sues law firm over role in FBI corruption sting that led to mayor’s arrest

Miami Lakes is suing a law firm over its involvement in an FBI sting operation that led to the arrest of the town’s mayor in 2013.

The suit, which was filed by the town in Miami-Dade Circuit Court last week, is seeking more than $5 million in damages over the role of Richard Candia, who was an employee at the law firm Becker & Poliakoff, in the FBI operation. Candia was party to an alleged corruption scheme involving then-Mayor Michael Pizzi and later became an FBI informant.

Miami Lakes is suing the firm, which was under contract to provide lobbying and consulting services to the town, for negligence, as well as breach of contract and fiduciary duties. The contract had stated that the law firm should protect the town from potential harm and reimburse the town for costs it incurred because of the actions of the firm. The lawsuit was first reported by the Daily Business Review.

Pizzi, who at the time was serving as the mayor of Miami Lakes and the town attorney for Medley, was arrested and charged with bribery in a case involving a vendor that was interested in stealing town funds. But after standing trial, he was acquitted and reinstated as mayor. He sued Miami Lakes, and earlier this year, he received a $1.6 million settlement over a decade after his initial arrest.

As an employee of Becker & Poliakoff, Candia provided lobbying and consulting services to the town during the time of the FBI operation. Candia was arrested for his involvement with the scheme, but he avoided prison time.

A spokesperson for Becker & Poliakoff said the firm believes the suit is “without merit” and “expects a prompt dismissal.”

Miami Lakes Town Attorney Raul Gastesi said this “unfortunate situation ... certainly wasn’t the town’s fault.” He added that the town has spent millions of dollars over the past decade “digging out from under this.”

“The Becker Poliakoff firm is a very reputable firm,” Gastesi told the Miami Herald. “Unfortunately, this happened on their watch.”

Manny Cid, the town’s current mayor, did not respond to the Herald’s request for comment.

The operation involved a sham firm called Sunshine Universal, which claimed it could obtain grant money to conduct economic studies, then carry out the studies poorly and use the leftover money to enrich itself and town employees, including the mayor. In actuality, the firm’s two operators were undercover FBI agents.

Candia became involved when the undercover FBI agents approached him with an offer to get in on the scheme. According to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office following the arrests in 2013, Candia selected Pizzi as a potential target who could be exploited in Town Hall.

The mayor later accepted more than $6,000 in bribes in connection with Sunshine Universal, according to the FBI, and he was arrested on federal corruption charges. (Pizzi has always denied and continues to deny those allegations.) Candia worked with the mayor and, unwittingly, the undercover FBI agents to further the scheme, according to the FBI.

Miami Lakes now claims that the law firm that employed Candia breached its contract with the town by not intervening when it became aware of “red flags” with Sunshine Universal’s operations, according to the complaint filed in civil court. The complaint states that Candia knew of several lies and irregularities related to Sunshine Universal, including that Pizzi had lied on an audit call, that the grant-funded report would be “of a very poor quality” and that the principals of Sunshine Universal were not qualified to carry out economic studies.

Despite knowing that, the complaint states, Candia still promoted the program to the town council. Based on his recommendation, the council voted to apply for the grant funding for the study in May 2013.

In June 2013, federal agents approached Candia, asking him to become an informant and revealing that Sunshine Universal was actually an undercover FBI operation.

The complaint states that as an informant, using his “position of trust … Candia sought to and did obtain evidence against his client’s mayor, and encouraged and instigated Pizzi to commit illegal acts.”

That evidence led to the mayor’s arrest on seven counts of criminal bribery, the town argues.

“This entire mess was caused by out of control informants, unscrupulous lobbyists, and under cover government agents who took advantage of the genuine desire of public officials to help their cities,” Pizzi told the Herald in an emailed statement.

He added that as “one of the victims of the scheme,” he is happy to assist the town in its lawsuit in any way he can.