FBI makes new arrest in ‘murder for hire’ case related to developer Sergio Pino

A Cutler Bay man is in federal custody as part of the criminal investigation surrounding Sergio Pino, the Miami developer who fatally shot himself Tuesday morning as FBI agents descended on his Coral Gables home.

Fausto Villar, 42, is listed as an inmate in the federal prison system as of Wednesday. Along with the raid at Pino’s Cocoplum home, FBI agents went to Villar’s house in Cutler Bay on Tuesday morning to make an arrest tied to the case, though the agency did not say at the time who was arrested there.

The address given by the FBI is a home owned by Villar and his wife, and neighbors told the Miami Herald that Villar was the one they saw get arrested. Villar is now listed in the federal database of prison inmates as someone held in downtown Miami’s Federal Detention Center.

FBI agents had descended on Pino’s home Tuesday morning for a “search and arrest” operation related to a murder for hire investigation. The agency — which had been investigating threats against Pino’s estranged wife, Tatiana Pino — later announced in a news release that Pino had been found dead of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound when agents entered the home.

The news release Tuesday afternoon was the federal agency’s first public acknowledgment that its ongoing investigation, which began in the fall, was being looked at as a murder for hire case. Four men were arrested earlier this year in connection with threats against Tatiana Pino.

READ THE DOCUMENTS: FBI affidavits detail alleged threats against developer’s wife

In the murder for hire case, the FBI said agents were dispatched to a second address Tuesday morning, a Cutler Bay home 12 miles south of Pino’s residence. In its news release, the FBI reported that one person had been taken into custody “without incident” at the house on the 9700 block of Bel Aire Drive.

The single-story home identified by the FBI is owned by Villar and Natalia Barrientos, according to Miami-Dade property records. No one answered the door at the house on Tuesday afternoon.

A neighbor provided the Miami Herald with video footage from earlier that morning showing agents with a man in handcuffs at that address, seemingly talking to his family before being led away. She identified the man as Fausto Villar.

“This all started at 6:20 a.m.,” said the neighbor, Nicole, who declined to give her last name. “At 11 is when they all cleared out.”

A second neighbor confirmed that she knew the man who was arrested as Fausto Villar.

Attempts to reach Villar for comment Tuesday afternoon were unsuccessful.

In 2016, Villar was released from a four-year prison stint after being arrested along with his cousin, a Miami-Dade cop, for ripping off a man who won a big bet.

According to court records and police, a large win on on Internet gambling site set off a series of bizarre events that landed Villar and his cousin John Villar Jr. in prison for years on armed robbery and other charges.

Police said that in 2010, a man named Marvin Duarte won a $131,000 gambling bet on the website GameDayVIP.com. After going to the business to collect the money, Villar and his cousin followed Duarte onto State Road 826, then pulled him over, according to law enforcement.

John Villar allegedly approached Duarte with a holstered weapon and a gun. Fausto Villar also approached, wearing a bulletproof vest with “Police” on it and carrying a Taser, records show.

The duo told Duarte, according to court records, that they needed to take the bag with money as part of a narcotics investigation. After they drove off, Duarte got the attention of a Florida Highway Patrol officer, who pulled the duo over near an exit ramp.

John Villar said he was a cop. Fausto Villar grabbed the money and took off on foot but was caught.

After his arrest, John Villar worked out a plea deal and was sentenced to eight years in prison. Fausto Villar, charged with armed robbery with a firearm, burglary and impersonating a cop, was sentenced to seven years. He was released in 2016.

State records show Fausto Villar owned a consulting company prior to his arrest. Since his release, state records appear to show, he has run a landscaping company from his Cutler Bay home.

Miami Herald reporter Chuck Rabin contributed to this report.

This story was originally published July 16, 2024 at 4:44 PM.