HIALEAH, Fla. (WFLA) — A Former Hialeah Police Chief was arrested after allegedly committing organized fraud and grand theft throughout his time in workplace, NBC Affiliate WTVJ said.
Sergio Velazquez served as chief on the Hialeah Police Division from 2012 till his suspension in 2021.
Velazquez is dealing with costs that embrace:
- 1 rely of structuring transactions to evade reporting or registration necessities
- 1 rely of organized fraud
- 1 rely of grand theft
In response to State Lawyer Katherine Fernandez Rundle, 147 checks had been cashed, totalling roughly $3.2 million.
“When any serving police officer violates the regulation, he betrays the neighborhood who he has sworn to serve,” stated State Lawyer Katherine Fernandez Rundle. “However when a police chief is alleged to have stolen from town and division he has led, this distinctive betrayal deeply damages the very soul of the neighborhood. I congratulate the FDLE brokers and analysts, who working along with my Public Corruption prosecutors on this complicated investigation, have labored to convey this matter earlier than our felony courts.”
The funds had been supposed for use to fund undercover narcotic investigations.
WTVJ stated after forensic audits, a lot of that cash was unaccounted for and by no means documented.
The cash that was used for undercover drug buys allegedly got here from the secure within the former chief’s workplace. He and a choose few had the mixture.
In response to State Lawyer Katherine Fernandez Rundle, on October 28, 2020, 15 money deposits had been made. $25,900 was cut up between Velazquez’s two enterprise accounts and one private account.
