In its investigation of Frantz Pierre and Marie Eleazard for conflict of interest violations, the Miami-Dade Commission on Ethics and Public Trust finally caught up with Remus Caesar, the treasurer of the bogus “non-profit” organization known as Center for Family Empowerment, Inc. (CFEI).

Once he began testifying under oath – and the power of a subpoena – Remus Caesar revealed a wealth of information regarding certain expenditures by CFEI which appeared to be questionable.  Investigators were interested in twelve specific checks issued by the company.  Caesar provided the following explanations.

Check number 1001 in the amount of $667.00 was paid to Caesar’s neice, “Magda Delva.”  This payment was allegedly  “a one-time reimbursement for the money she loaned him” for “the CFEI incorporation process.”  Caesar had no receipts to document this “process.”  Magda Delva, who was also interviewed, admitted that Caesar was her uncle.  She acknowledged receiving and cashing the check, but claimed she had no idea why she received this money.  After she was served with a subpoena, however, she conveniently remembered that the $677.00 “was reimbursement for money that she loaned to Caesar.”

Check number 1002 in the amount of $600.00 payable to “Cash,” was supposedly a reimbursement to Florence Thony for the company’s phone bills from 2009 to 2010.  Caesar claimed that the directors approved this $600.00 payment, but “there are no records documenting the vote.”

Check number 1003 in the amount of $3,600.00 was paid to “Nirlade Rodriguez.”  Caesar told investigators that Marie Eleazard told the directors that Rodriguez loaned the money to her “to cover expenses that she incurred on behalf of CFEI.”  Not surprisingly, there were no records of the directors’ approval of this check, nor did Caesar ever see receipts for the use of these funds.  (More on Nirlade Rodriguez in a moment.*)

Check number 1004 for $758.61 payable to “Publix” was to pay for two “turkey giveaways.”  (Note #1: Frantz likes to hold “turkey giveaways” and take credit for them.  One has to wonder if he was using this “non-profit” donation from the NMBPD’s Law Enforcement Trust Fund to fund his personal “turkey giveaways.”  Just saying.)

Check 1005 in the amount of $1,795.00 was paid to “S&I Uniforms.”   Caesar told investigators this was a reimbursement to the vendor for “the purchase of school supplies and uniforms” at an event held at the North Miami Beach amphitheater.  (Note #2:  Frantzie held at least one event at the amphitheater, and another at the “House of Non-Profits” where he gave away school supplies and back packs.  See Note #1 above.)

Check number 1006 for $150.00 was paid to “Karry Joseph,” who lives at the home of Frantz Pierre.  According to Caesar, Karry Joseph claims to be Frantzie’s step-son, and that he was hired to “construct CFEI web site.”  Caesar also told investigators that Joseph was ordered by Frantz “not to continue” doing whatever he was doing because he “did not want a conflict to occur.”  Although the company paid Joseph the $150.00, Caesar had no idea “what Joseph did for the money.”

Check number 1007 in the amount of $250.00 was paid to “Julien Van Vier,” a “local Haitian performer and promoter.”  Caesar told investigators that Van Vier was paid “to promote fund raising,” but didn’t know if he did anything for the money.  Caesar claimed that Marie Eleazard made all those arrangements.

Check number 1008 in the amount of $100.56, made payable to the “City of Pembroke Pines,” turned out to be for the payment of Marie Eleazard‘s personal water bill at her home in Pembroke Pines.

Check number 1009 in the amount of $400.00 was paid to “Gerard Baptiste,” who Caesar claimed “was the driver who transported turkeys and uniforms” for the company’s giveaways.

As I mentioned in Franzie Watch: Crime Pays, Part I, two checks, numbered 1011 and 1012, were both payable to “VBackoffice.com” (Frannix Jean-Mary’s company).  These checks were for the amounts of $150.00 and $79.80, respectively.  The first one was allegedly for telephone service and the second for “the balance of the construction of CFEI web site.”  Both of these checks were signed by Jean-Mary.

Oh, really?  Would this be the same website that Joseph Karry was already paid $150.00 to construct?  Just asking.

And finally, check number 1013 in the amount of $61.25, also signed by Frannix Jean-Mary, was paid to “Frank Flavien.”   Caesar claimed this was for the “expenses [Flavien] incurred in registering CFEI as a not-for-profit.  When Frank Flavien was interviewed by COE investigators, he admitted that he received that payment, and explained that Caesar “contacted him and asked him to re-register CFEI with the State as a not-for-profit.”  Flavien also advised the investigators that Linda Mathieu, the original founder of CFEI is his wife.

Remus Caesar wrapped up his sworn statement by testifying that only Florence Thony and Marie Eleazard “had signature authority over the bank account and held the ATM card.  Although he identified several ATM transactions, which are listed in the Investigative Report.  These transactions included $200.00 in cash withdrawals, $45.00 for gas, $182.75 to Avis Rent-A-Car, $148.31 at a phone store, and $41.97 for grocery, food and drug store purchases, or a total of $618.03 all between January 3 and January 19, 2011.

Caesar also claimed that “CFEI no longer has an ATM card; he destroyed it.”

Interestingly, under oath Caesar told investigators that he serves on the board of another “non-profit” along with Yvenoline Dargenson, “who is the wife of the current CFEI President” Frannix Jean-Mary.

And finally, Caesar told the investigators to contact Mac Serda, who allegedly  “arranged for and held a school bag give-away at NMB City Hall.”  (Note #3:  See Note #1 and Note #2 above.)

Believe it or not, this story gets even more twisted after that.

As noted above,* the woman who received check number 1003 for $3,600.00, Nirlande Amy Rodriguez, was interviewed after the Ethics Commission subpoenaed her personal bank records.  During the interview with investigators, Rodriguez claimed that although she did know Marie Eleazard, that she had absolutely no knowledge of Center for Family Empowerment, Inc., and did not know Florence Thony or Remus Caesar.

Rodriguez also bizarrely claimed that she “knew of” the $3,600.00 check, but had never seen it before the investigators showed it to her.  She also testified that neither “the writing on the check” nor the “signature on the back” were hers.

The report noted that both Rodriguez and Eleazard met at church.  Rodriguez stated that Eleazard had asked her for her bank account number so she could deposit the $3,600.00 into her account.  The Investigative Report noted that, “It was agreed that Rodriguez would later withdraw the cash and give it to Eleazard.”

Curiously, Rodriguez told investigators that “Eleazard never told Rodriguez what she was going to do with the cash from the check.”

Marie Eleazard then deposited check number 1003 into Rodriguez’s bank account.  Rodriguez was then instructed to withdraw $3,600.00 in cash, and told to meet a person by the name of “Linda” in a Broward County parking lot.  Rodriguez admitted doing so, and further stated she had never met “Linda” before that, nor has she ever seen the woman again.

A review of Rodriguez’s personal bank records showed that the $3,600.00 deposit was made, but that she only withdrew a sum of $3,000.00.  The report noted that the “shortfall may indicate that Rodriguez kept $600.00.”  A money laundering fee, perhaps?

Rodriguez insisted that she withdrew the entire $3,600.00 and gave it to “Linda,” despite the fact that her bank records prove otherwise.

Finally, the Commission on Ethics investigators interviewed the original founder and Registered Agent of Center for Family Empowerment, Inc., Linda Mathieu.

She agreed to a telephone interview with COE.  When asked for the corporate records including “minutes of any directors meeting and documents reflecting payments made by the organization,” she told investigators she didn’t have anything.  As expected, Mathieu told the investigator to “contact Eleazard or one of the other directors.”

Linda Mathieu stated that the company held “a number of community activities such as the school book bag giveaways and food giveaways,” and that payments were made to “individuals who had made out of pocket expenditures on behalf of the organization.”  She also confirmed the $250.00 payment  to Julien Van Vier for “publicity,” but had no knowledge what he did in exchange for that money, if anything.

Despite Nirlande Rodriguez’s testimony about her giving a $3,600.00 cash payment to “Linda” in a Broward County parking lot, Linda Mathieu claimed she had no idea who Nirlande Rodriguez was denied ever receiving money from her.

Apparently, the $3,000.00 cash withdrawal from Rodriguez’s bank account simply disappeared into thin air.

Mathieu also claimed that she had never been reimbursed for any expenses she incurred on behalf of the company, and conveniently, that she hadn’t spoken to Marie Eleazard “in over two years.”

Here’s the thing.

This is not rocket science.  Anyone with a lick of common sense can see exactly what happened here.

While the Center for Family Empowerment, Inc. may have been originally formed with honorable intentions, it was quickly taken over by a wolf pack of opportunists who saw an chance for self-enrichment.

From the minute Maxo Sinal was added as a contact person on October 29, 2009, this so-called “non-profit” became a profitable venture for everyone involved.  Original founder, Marie E. Elegzaro wisely removed herself as a principal of the corporation, but everyone who remained became complicit in what can only be described as a complex, yet totally transparent, money laundering scheme for personal profit.

Ever the opportunist, Frantz Pierre quickly involved himself by introducing his “house-mate” (and alleged  flavor of the month) Marie Eleazard to North Miami Beach employees for the purpose of securing Law Enforcement Trust Fund donations to her “non-profit.”

Frantz Pierre also found a way to get “free” money for his cronies, such as the $150.00 gift to his “step-son” Joseph Karry, and a total of $229.80 to Frannix Jean-Mary (the husband of yet another one of Frantzie’s “special friends,” Yvenoline Dargenson).  It also appears that Frantzie used the LETF money as a way to fund his vote-buying book bag and turkey giveaways.

For her role as founder of CFEI, Florence Thony got $600.00 worth of free phone service.

For her role as Registered Agent and officer of the “non-profit” organization, Marie Eleazard got her personal $100.56 water bill paid, as well as the bulk of (if not all) the $3,000.00 “laundered” through the personal bank account of her church friend, Nirlande Rodriguez.

As one of the founders of Center for Family Empowerment, Inc., and wife of treasurer Remus Caesar, we can safely assume that Linda Mathieu received some type of “collection fee” for picking up the $3,000.00 cash delivered by Nirlande Rodriguez in that Broward County parking lot.

Magda Delva, the niece of treasurer Remus Caesar, received $677.00.  Just because.

The Miami-Dade Commission on Ethics and Public Trust so succinctly pointed out, “The vast majority of the $10,000 given to CFEI appears to have been spread around to various individuals for questionable reasons unrelated to legitimate non-profit, charitable expenditures and was instead used for personal expenses.”

As I noted in my previous post, in 2010 Frantz Pierre and Marie Eleazard both met with former NMB City Manager Kelvin Baker and former NMB Police Chief Rafael Hernandez for the specific purpose of obtaining a Law Enforcement Trust Fund donation for Eleazard’s “non-profit” organization, Center for Family Empowerment, Inc.

After those two meetings, Frantz Pierre and Marie Eleazard were able to con Baker and Hernandez into donating $10,000.00 from the LETF.  Eleazard, through her “non-profit,” proceeded to blow through those public funds for personal gain.

Since their first scam was obviously a rousing success, a year later in 2011, Frantz Pierre and Marie Eleazard arranged meetings with the City Manager’s and Police Chief’s successors, Lyndon Bonner and Larry Gomer, to try their luck again.  Fortunately, both Bonner and Gomer saw through the scam and denied Pierre’s and Eleazard’s request for a second donation.

In conclusion, the Miami-Dade Commission on Ethics and Public Trust reported, “By their own admission, the officers and directors kept virtually no records of expenses or receipts.  The records show that approximately $3,000.00 of the $10,000.00 [LETF] award went to Eleazard personally after she funneled the money through the checking account of Nirlande Rodriguez.”

The COE also noted that the $100.00 payment of Marie Eleazard’s water bill “constitutes a crime of theft but is outside of the Statute of Limitations.”

The Investigative Report concluded, “Although some of the award money seems to have been spent on legitimate charitable expenses (turkey giveaway, book bags/school uniform giveaway), the majority of the money was doled out to various officers, relatives and friends with no substantiation of what the money was used for.”

Furthemore, “The fact that Eleazard, at one point, was a resident and registered voter in Councilman Pierre’s home heightens legitimate suspicions of impropriety.”

The Commission on Ethics investigation unequivocally proved that:

(1)  Frantz Pierre clearly violated Miami Dade County Conflict of Interest and Code of Ethics Ordinance, Sec2-11.1, paragraph (g), which reads:

(g) Exploitation of official position prohibited. No person included in the terms defined in subsection (b)(1) through (6) and (b)(13) shall use or attempt to use his or her official position to secure special privileges or exemptions for himself or herself or others except as may be specifically permitted by other ordinances and resolutions previously ordained or adopted or hereafter to be ordained or adopted by the Board of County Commissioners.

(2)  Marie Eleazard clearly violated that portion of Florida Statute 932.7055, Disposition of liens and forfeited property, paragraph (5)(c), which reads:

(c) An agency or organization, other than the seizing agency, that wishes to receive such funds shall apply to the sheriff or chief of police for an appropriation and its application shall be accompanied by a written certification that the moneys will be used for an authorized purpose. Such requests for expenditures shall include a statement describing anticipated recurring costs for the agency for subsequent fiscal years. An agency or organization that receives money pursuant to this subsection shall provide an accounting for such moneys and shall furnish the same reports as an agency of the county or municipality that receives public funds.

For all the hard, tedious, and time-consuming work performed by the Miami-Dade Commission on Ethics (not to mention the cost to the taxpayers), ABSOLUTELY NOTHING CAME OUT OF THIS INVESTIGATION!

On October 10, 2014, the State Attorney’s Office closed the case.

Katherine Fernandez-Rundle:  “Nothing to see here, folks.  Move along.”

The case was also turned over to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement “to pursue any charges they deemed appropriate.”

Since then?  CRICKETS!

Finally, the Commission issued a recommendation to the City of North Miami Beach “that they review their police, process and procedure for awarding grants such as the one in question here.  At a minimum, some due diligence should be conducted to determine whether the entity to receive the grant money is, in fact, a bona fide and legitimate non-profit entity; the city should also require an accounting of how the funds are actually spent.”

YA THINK?

After completing its investigation, the Miami-Dade County Commission on Ethics and Public Trust had no choice but to close the case.  As an “independent agency with advisory and quasi-judicial powers,” it does not have the power to arrest or indict.  However, the Public Advocate does have the authority to “prosecute” under the jurisdiction of the Conflict of Interest and Code of Ethics Ordinance.  In addition, if the Commission deems that a public official committed an illegal act, they refer the case to the State Attorney, local, state or federal police, or other appropriate agencies, such as the Florida Elections Commission.

Unfortunately, as we have seen in this case and others, far too often those agencies completely drop the ball.

In Katherine Fernandez Rundle’s South Florida, crime really does pay.

Stephanie Kienzle
“Spreading the Wealth”