From MiamiHerald.com

South Miami police chief accused of violating ethics laws

South Miami’s police chief is being accused of violating ethics laws for steering city business to his wife’s companies.

The Miami-Dade Commission on Ethics and Public Trust announced Tuesday that investigators found evidence that Police Chief Orlando Martinez de Castro violated South Miami’s “prohibition on transacting business with the city,” as well the County Conflict of Interest and Code of Ethics Ordinance’s “prohibition on exploitation of official position.”

“The chief has been in law enforcement over 40 years with an unblemished record,” said Martinez de Castro’s Coral Gables attorney Simon Steckel. “We are looking forward to going to a full evidentiary hearing where we believe he will be completely vindicated.”

The accusations are related to two of his wife’s businesses -- Airways Auto Tag Agency and Beck & Lo’s Insurance Agency.

The South Miami Police Department contracted Airways three times during 2011 for tags and titles for forfeiture vehicles. Steckel said Martinez de Castro did not approve the transactions and was not in the direct chain of command. Major Ana Baixauli was.

The police chief is also being accused of using his city e-mail in April to solicit business for Beck & Lo.

“It was not a solicitation of business,” Steckel said. “The person to whom he is accused of soliciting business to has never been interviewed.”

The case will proceed to a public hearing.

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/10/23/3 ... rylink=cpy