Former Miami City Commissioner Sabina Covois under investigation for bribery accusationsas confirmed by an executive order signed by the governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis.
Covo is being investigated for alleged bribery and “remuneration by the candidate for services, support, etc.”, according to a report from the Miami Herald.
The objective of the executive order, dated February 1, is to authorize the transfer of the case to the 17th district of Broward at the request of the Miami-Dade state attorney, Katherine Fernandez Rundle. DeSantis approved the transition of the case to the Broward state attorney, Harold Pryor.
The document allows Fernández Rundle to recuse himself from the case because a key witness is a “close associate of the state attorney’s office.” The warrant did not reveal the identity of the witness.
Covo said this Saturday at Miami Herald that she had not yet been officially informed of the investigation nor had the authorities contacted her.
“This is quite surprising, since no agency or the Governor’s office has contacted me,” the journalist and businesswoman said in a statement. “I led with the highest ethics and integrity, and any review of my tenure, including my campaigns, will confirm that.”
In its declarationthe former commissioner added: “I honestly do not know what the investigation entails, but what I do know is that I conducted myself and my office with the utmost good faith, ethics and with the exclusive interests of the residents of the City of Miami and District 2, where I live with my husband and three children.”
Covo was elected to a shortened term in February 2023, in which she filled the seat of then-commissioner Ken Russell in District 2, following his resignation following a failed run for Congress. He was in office for less than a year, until Damián Pardo He defeated her in last year’s elections.
Covo said he is in contact with an attorney and “will continue to seek advice on the best path forward to ensure I am properly exonerated.”
Once the investigation was announced, the former City Commission candidate James Torreswho ran against Covo for the District 2 seat last year, told the Miami Herald who believes that the case is linked to the complaints that he did against Covo months ago.
Torres was one of the candidates in the campaign that was decided in the second round between Covo and Pardo, who won with an anti-corruption platform. Days before the vote, Torres participated in documentary filmmaker Billy Corben’s podcast, “Because Miami,” where he alleged that Covo had offered him a position in the city in exchange for his support after he did not qualify for the election. Second round.
However, in statements to Miami New TimesCovo denied this and said Torres’ claims were “categorically and unequivocally false.”
