Updated at on 12/14
A Miami code inspector said his virtual signature was used without his permission on a key document at the center of a lawsuit against the embattled Miami City Attorney Victoria Méndez and her husband, newly released testimony reveals.
The testimony was part of an ongoing court case that sheds light on allegations that Miami City Attorney Victoria Méndez and her husband Carlos Morales used “deceptive” acts to acquire and resell real estate.
Several new court documents were filed this month with the Miami-Dade circuit court and made public ahead of an evidentiary hearing on Dec. 15. One of those documents is a transcribed October interview with City of Miami Code Compliance Supervisor Ricardo Franqui.
Franqui told attorneys in his sworn deposition that a document which allowed Méndez’s husband to skirt nearly $300,000 in city fines used Franqui’s signature without his permission or knowledge. Without that key signature, the events at the center of the lawsuit may not have been able to proceed.
Following publication of the story, Matthew Ladd, Morales’ attorney, told WLRN via email that his client followed all city compliance rules.
The lawsuit centers on allegations that Méndez referred plaintiff Jose Alvarez — who was experiencing code violation issues on his mother’s property — to her husband, whose real estate company was in the business of buying and selling distressed homes. Alvarez alleges this was part of a scheme to line Morales’ pockets with profit from the property while depriving the city of revenue.
Alvarez argues Méndez and Morales defrauded him of the true value of his home, which previously belonged to his elderly mother before she died.
READ MORE: Miami city attorney Victoria Mendez, husband sued for alleged real estate fraud
As detailed in WLRN's investigative series ‘Unguarded,’ Alvarez's home had a total of $271,250 in liens when Morales purchased it in 2017 for $205,000. Morales was later able to convince the Miami Code Enforcement Board to lower his fines down to $0 by saying the property had “been complied.”
Public records obtained by WLRN show that Morales had reached out to one of his wife’s subordinates, assistant city attorney Rachel Dooley, to ask her to place the Alvarez property on the Code Enforcement Board agenda. Dooley pushed for city staff to do so, even though the agenda was already set and the deadline had passed.
“The last thing I want is for anyone to accuse me or Hearing Boards of making exceptions,” Olga Zamora, chief of the city’s hearing boards, wrote in an email to Dooley after accepting her request to put Morales on the agenda.
After the fines were wiped away, Morales resold the home for $370,000 — a $165,000 markup in just one year.
For a property to have its code violations mitigated, the property owner must obtain an Affidavit of Compliance from a city code inspector. The inspector will make sure that all previously found violations have been fixed and no new violations have occurred before signing and notarizing an affidavit the owner can show to the Code Enforcement Board.
In Morales’ case, he had an affidavit that bore the signature of Franqui, who was an inspector assigned to the Alvarez property in 2015. The fines would not have been able to be wiped away without that signature.
But in newly released testimony, Franqui said he never signed an affidavit for that property, nor had he inspected the home to find that it was in compliance.
When asked by one of Alvarez’s attorneys if he ever issued an affidavit of compliance for the property, Franqui said unequivocally: “No, I did not.”
“After I saw the affidavit of compliance, I did my subsequent research back into the case... because my initial reaction was maybe I was out, maybe I was ill, maybe I was whatever, and no, I didn't generate it,” Franqui said in his deposition, according to a court transcript.
Franqui said he was unaware of any inspection on the property that led to an affidavit of compliance and saw no photos that would have shown an inspection was done. Though his electronic signature was affixed to the affidavit, he said he did not generate that document, nor did anyone consult him or let him know that they would be using his signature on the affidavit.
According to his testimony, after researching the property’s permit history, Franqui found that the affidavit was generated by someone else in his department who used Franqui’s signature: Lazaro Orta. Orta is currently the city’s Code Compliance coordinator. Franqui said he informed his supervisor of the discrepancy, and took no further action.
Ladd, citing a separate deposition of Orta, said Franqui had been transferred to another city position, prompting Orta to do the compliance inspection on the Alvarez property. Because Franqui was the original code inspector assigned to the property, the city's online system would use Franqui's signature when an affidavit of compliance is generated.
In Orta's deposition, he told attorneys he must have done a compliance inspection on the property because he created an affidavit of compliance. However, Orta could not remember actually performing the inspection or taking any photos.
“After I saw the affidavit of compliance, I did my subsequent research back into the case... because my initial reaction was maybe I was out, maybe I was ill, maybe I was whatever, and no, I didn't generate it.”Ricardo Franqui, City of Miami Code Compliance supervisor
City Attorney Méndez did reach out to Inspector Franqui to put him in touch with Alvarez, according to an email that was read aloud during Franqui's deposition. One of Morales' attorneys read out an email Méndez sent on Jan. 31, 2017, to Franqui to connect him with Alvarez.
“Ricky, can you tell me what the violations are and can I have the next of kin call you? They are a little lost since their grandmother/owner passed and so did the contractor. Thanks,” the email read.
Real estate deal
How Méndez’s husband ended up buying the home from Alvarez is at the crux of the court case. Alvarez, the plaintiff, claims Méndez referred him to her husband Morales, who allegedly suggested the easiest way to deal with code violations was to simply sell the home to him.
Alvarez’s daughter and Méndez went to school together, and they knew each other.
“My daughter gave [Méndez] my phone number and my email, and she called me that evening and we spoke,” Alvarez said in a sworn deposition in the case. “Don't ask me the extent of the conversation because I can't remember, but I know that from that conversation, then the next thing was meeting with Morales.”
In her sworn deposition in the case, Méndez rebuffed any claim that she used her office to find her husband a profitable real estate deal, or that she in any way used her position to give preferential information to members of her family.
“There are no family members that are receiving special treatment,” Méndez testified.
The newly-released documents also show that during the deposition, Méndez lodged a complaint against the attorney who was doing the questioning: Jeffrey Gutchess. Gutchess led a lawsuit against Miami commissioner Joe Carollo earlier this year, alleging that the commissioner abused his power by directing code enforcement against specific businesses in Little Havana.
The case resulted in a $63.5 million verdict against Carollo in his personal capacity. Méndez found herself at the center of the case, with several key witnesses testifying that she played a major role in the alleged abuse of power. She denied the allegations, while her office spent $8 million in legal bills for the case, which is currently being appealed.
“There is no public corruption with regard to this matter, only what you are trying to create in your narratives and in your stories in order to harass me and my family,” Méndez told Gutchess during questioning.
Méndez is currently under fire from two new Miami City Commissioners who say she is at fault for some of the city's recent legal woes, including the legal fees for the $63.5 million verdict against Carollo as well as the Alvarez lawsuit. There is an item to terminate her as city attorney on the Dec. 14 commission agenda, brought by newly-elected Commissioner Miguel Gabela.
