When thinking of “non-profit” scam artists posing as public officials, the first name that comes to mind, of course, is Frantz Pierre.

The ousted Faux Commissioner of North Miami Beach has spent years conning his own city out of tax dollars using bogus “non-profit” organizations formed by his cronies.  As it turns out, he’s not the only one.

North Miami city council carpetbagger candidate, Carline Paul, used her “non-proft,” Haitian American Youth of Tomorrow, Inc. (HAYOT), to supplement her own salary under the guise of “voter education.”

We’ve written extensively of the myriad of “non-profit” organizations that request donations from local cities and turn out to be scams.  Is North Miami Police Department’s new assistant chief, Franzia Brea, also scamming for dollars?

Public records reflect that the North Miami Police Department’s newly appointed assistant chief Franzia Brea, a/k/a Franzia Brea-Burden, is the current President, Director and Registered Agent of Save 509, Inc., a Florida Not For Profit Corporation.   It was incorporated on March 15, 2010 by Franzia Brea-Burden (her married name at the time), of Miramar, Florida, and Nathalie Vertus, of Coconut Creek, Florida.  At the time she formed this “non-profit,” Brea-Burden was a police officer for the City of Miami.  The Articles of Incorporation named Natalie Vertus as President, Darshana Francois as Secretary, and Frantzia Brea-Burden and Karine Emeran as Directors.

Save 509 does have a Facebook page, although there are only two posts dated March 9, 2011 advertising an event scheduled for June 4, 2011 at the North Miami Athletic Stadium.  One post claims its mission is “Support & Action for the Victims of the Earthquake.”  This Facebook page also references a website, www.save509.org, which no longer exists, if in fact it ever did.

UPDATE: Our media consultant found a link to a website for Save 509 on an “internet archive” site, which has not been updated since 2011.  You can access it by clicking here:  https://web.archive.org/web/20110813120449/http://www.save509.org/

The company did get some word of mouth publicity.  Three weeks after Franzia Brea-Burden formed her “non-profit,” the former/late North Miami Beach Councilman John Patrick Julian mentioned Save 509, Inc. at the April 6, 2010 City Council meeting.  According to the minutes of the meeting, he announced:

Let’s take a look at the history of this “non-profit” organization.

Save 509, Inc. filed its 2011 Annual Report on April 27, 2011, with a new mailing address of 1031 Ives Dairy Road, Suite 228, Miami, Florida 33179.  By this time, Karine Emeran was now the President of the company, and former President Nathalie Vertus was now a Director.  Franzia Brea-Burden was still a Director.

Its 2012 Annual Report was filed on May 3, 2012, reporting that Franzia Brea-Burden was now the President, Nathalie Vertus and Karine Emeran were now Directors, and Darshana Francois was no longer an officer of the company.

Save 509, Inc. also listed another new mailing address of 1603 NW 183rd Street, Miami, Florida 33169.

According to the Miami-Dade County Property Appraiser website, this address does not exist.  A Google map search, however, revealed that the approximate location for this non-existent address is the center, or median, of NW 183 Street, a/k/a Miami Gardens Drive.

Here’s the street view:

Seems legit.

On April 30, 2013, Save 509, Inc. filed its 2013 Annual Report, reflecting no changes from the previous year.  The principal address of the company was still in the center of Miami Gardens Drive, where we imagine it was difficult to hold board meetings.

The “non-profit’s” 2014 Annual Report, which was filed on May 1, 2014, reported no address change, but by then Karine Emeran was no longer a Director or principal of the company.

Save 509, Inc. filed its 2015 Annual Report on April 30, 2015, and reported yet another address of 18250 NW 2nd Avenue, #101, Miami, Florida 33169.  Unlike its previous place of business, this address does exist.

No changes were reported in its 2016 Annual Report, which was filed on April 30, 2016.

By the time this “non-profit” filed its 2017 Annual Report on May 1, 2017, however, it had moved to 5742 NW 2nd Avenue, Miami, 33127.  Although, this address does not exist on the rolls of the Miami-Dade County Property Appraiser, it appears to be the address of a Western Union agent known as United Check Cashing #2, which is owned by Natus, Inc., which lists Nathalie Vertus (the Director of Save 509, Inc.) as its the President and Registered Agent.

Alrighty then.

Save 509, Inc. also filed for a 501(c) (3) tax-exempt status with the Internal Revenue Service.

The only tax return it ever filed was a 2010 Form 990-EZ, which claimed that the primary purpose of this “non-profit” was to “assist disabled households needing school supplies.”

According to this return, the company received funding in the amount of $9,198.00.  It also reported a $3,981.00 loss from “gaming or fundraising events.”  Of the remaining funds, Save 509, Inc. reported expenses in the amount of $5,146.00, which included $1,884.00 for professional fees, $88.00 for “occupancy, rent, utilities and maintenance,” $63.00 for “printing, publication, postage and shipping,” and $3,111.00 for “other expenses” as described in Schedule O.

Schedule O reported the following expenditures:

• $1,556.00 for travel;
• $224.00 for supplies;
• $609.00 for telephone;
• $41.00 for bank fees; and
• $681.00 for advertising

The 2010 tax return reported a “fund balance” of $71.00 at the end of the year.

However, because it failed to file the required Form 990-series tax returns for three consecutive years, it’s exemption status was revoked on May 15, 2014.

The company never bothered to apply for reinstatement of its exemption status, yet it remains an active “non-profit” corporation in the State of Florida.

Seems legit.

Unlike Frantz Pierre’s phony “non-profits,” Franzia’s company never requested or received any public funding from North Miami, North Miami Beach or the City of Miami.

Miami-Dade County Commissioner Jean Monestime, however, allocated CBO (Community Based Organizations) funding, through its Office of Grants Coordination, to Save 509, Inc. in the amount of $500.00 during Fiscal Year 2010-2011.

No public funding for this company turned up on searches of state and federal databases, thus it appears that the remaining $8,698.00 of funding that Save 509, Inc. reported on the only Federal Income Tax return it ever filed came from private sources.

That’s the good news.

The bad news is that the new assistant chief of the North Miami Police Department has been maintaining an alleged “non-profit” organization for over eight years, ostensibly for the purpose of providing relief efforts to Haiti in the aftermath of the 2010 earthquake, with absolutely no accountability whatsoever.

And because she hasn’t even bothered to file a federally required tax return for the past seven years, Save 509, Inc.’s tax-exempt status was revoked by the Internal Revenue Service, rendering it ineligible to accept tax deductible donations.

Hopefully, Franzia Brea, a/k/a Franzia Brea-Burden, is not soliciting any donations, because doing so would be illegal.

And, cops are supposed to enforce laws, not break them.

Then again, this isn’t Franzia’s first rodeo.

On September 23, 2004, when Hurricane Jeanne slammed into the port city of Gonaives, Haiti, over 3,000 people were killed and a quarter million were left homeless.  Franzia Brea-Burden was a cop at the City of Miami at the time, and she participated in a police department sponsored fundraiser for the victims.  Franzia and another officer opened an account at the Miami Police Federal Credit Union (now called the United Police Federal Credit Union) in which to deposit the donations.

A former high ranking official in the Miami Police Department, who was directly involved in the fundraising efforts, advised VotersOpinion that over $5,000.00 was raised for those residents of Gonaives who were affected by the hurricane.

When it was time to disburse the donated funds to the Mayor of Gonaives, there was no money left in the account.  Franzia Brea-Burden claimed she gave it to a pastor of a church that happened to be located in her home town of Jacmel, Haiti.

We were also told that she never produced any proof of the donation to this alleged church, nor did she produce a receipt from the alleged pastor in exchange for the donation.  Apparently, no one at the City of Miami or its police department, ever followed up on the case of the missing money.

In other news, on February 11, 2005, Franzia and her then-husband, Adam “33” Burden, the current $113,100.00 “police consultant” for the North Miami Police Department, were served with a foreclosure action by Miramar Club Condominium Association, Inc., their homeowners’ association, for non-payment of maintenance.

On March 10, 2005, less than one month after the complaint was filed, less than five months after the hurricane fundraiser, the case was “Dismissed, Settled or Disposed Before Hearing.”

Just saying.

We reiterate, cops are supposed to enforce laws, not break them.

They’re also supposed to avoid the appearance of impropriety.

North Miami residents, welcome to your brand spanking new, and oh-so-transparent, North Miami Police Department Command Staff.

Y’all deserve better.

Stephanie