State law enforcement investigating Opa-locka after allegations made by former mayor
State law enforcement officers are investigating allegations made by Matthew Pigatt, who suddenly resigned Wednesday night as mayor of Opa-locka, citing “corruption.
The investigation is “active and ongoing,” Florida Department of Law Enforcement spokeswoman Gretl Plessinger wrote in a statement Friday. She did not elaborate on the nature of the investigation.
Pigatt met with state police in the last month, according to a source with direct knowledge of the interaction. Pigatt confirmed the meeting on Friday in a text message.
Pigatt, who was elected to the role in 2018, cited corrupt government and mismanagement as the reason for leaving office one year before his term ends. He made only vague accusations without specifics during a city commission meeting on Wednesday, but suggested he would eventually tell all.
It’s unclear what Pigatt told law enforcement.
FDLE’s investigation is only the latest criminal probe of a city government with a long history of corruption, bribery and financial mismanagement.
When asked about his contact with FDLE, Pigatt confirmed that he met with state police but otherwise declined to comment, writing in a text message that he is taking “some long overdue time for my family.”
“When I am ready to talk, I will reach out,” he wrote.
In his speech announcing his resignation to the city commission Wednesday night, Pigatt said that after speaking out against corruption in 2014, he saw code enforcement violations on his home, was threatened by the police “multiple times” and was “accosted by so-called shadow mayors and community advocates.”
It’s not known if Pigatt reached out to any other investigative agencies.
The Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office did not respond to requests for any complaints Pigatt might have made. The Miami-Dade Ethics Commission said no complaints had been filed by Pigatt, but four complaints had been filed against him between 2016 and 2019, all of which were dismissed.
Allegations of corruption in Opa-locka date back to the early 2000s, when the state first declared a financial emergency amid threats of bankruptcy in the small city.
In 2016, the FBI raided City Hall, and several former city employees were arrested on bribery charges. That year, then-Gov. Rick Scott declared a financial emergency for the city, calling for a special oversight board to take over the city’s finances.
The government has remained under the control of a state oversight board ever since, and a scathing report in 2019 cited 99 issues of fraud and mismanagement. A follow-up audit on the 2019 report is set to be finished by “mid-to-late-spring of 2022,” according to Derek Noonan, the Audit Manager for the state’s Auditor General.
Miami Herald staff writer Jay Weaver contributed to this report.
This article was updated with a statement from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
This story was originally published November 12, 2021 at 3:25 PM.