Miami Beach Rep. Michael Grieco hit with Bar complaint in wake of Herald investigation
The Florida Bar has found probable cause that Democratic state lawmaker and Miami Beach lawyer Michael Grieco committed ethical violations when he broke the law governing campaign finance then repeatedly lied to the public about it.
The misconduct — not the only ethical cloud currently hovering over the politician — was divulged in a series of stories in the Miami Herald in 2017, which Grieco denounced at the time as “fake news.”
At the time of the articles, he was a city commissioner running for mayor of Miami Beach. Ultimately he was forced to drop his mayoral bid and resign from the commission.
The year the stories ran, Grieco was charged with a first-degree misdemeanor by the office of Miami State Attorney Katherine Fernández Rundle, for whom he had once worked as a prosecutor. He was allowed to plead no contest and was given probation, only to immediately declare publicly that he had done nothing wrong.
The sentence required that he refrain from running for elective office for a year — later reduced to six months — after which he promptly campaigned for the state Legislature in a heavily Democratic district and won.
Wednesday, Grieco, 44, did not respond to various requests from the Miami Herald for comment.
The allegations stem from a secret PAC called People for Better Leaders that raised $200,000, including $25,000 from a Norwegian businessman, which as a foreign contribution was illegal. When the Herald revealed the existence of the PAC, Grieco initially said he had nothing to do with it. Donors who had been solicited to contribute said otherwise. Furthermore two forensic handwriting analysts, including one hired by the Herald, found that the handwriting on the documents establishing the PAC matched Grieco’s.
Grieco then said he was merely the lawyer for the PAC, not the beneficiary. That, too, proved to be false.
The Florida Bar complaint, filed with the state Supreme Court, alleges that Grieco — who sits on the Bar’s governmental and public policy advocacy committee — violated the following three rules:
▪ Rule 3-4.3 — Misconduct and Minor Misconduct.
▪ Rule 4-8.4 (b) — A lawyer shall not commit a criminal act that reflects adversely on the lawyer’s honesty, trustworthiness, or fitness as a lawyer in other respects.
▪ Rule 4-8.4 (c) — A lawyer shall not engage in conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit, or misrepresentation.
The Bar complaint could lead to professional sanctions, including probation or suspension of Grieco’s law license.
The investigation by the state attorney’s office and a companion probe by the Miami-Dade Commission on Ethics and Public Trust, both initiated after the Herald’s reporting, found that the PAC was created in October 2015 by Grieco associates Brian Abraham, scion of a wealthy Coral Gables family and former manager of the King of Diamonds strip club, and Brian George, an accountant who declared bankruptcy in 2009.
Abraham, listed as chairman, and George, the treasurer, said they did very little for the PAC and had never even met each other, according to the Bar complaint.
Although ostensibly in charge of the money, George didn’t know if any funds had been raised, how the funds were raised or that a checking account had been opened on the PAC’s behalf. He said he forwarded any letters from the state regarding compliance issues to Grieco, who would handle the paperwork, the Bar complaint says.
Abraham added that the paperwork to form the PAC was completed at Grieco’s office.
Abraham said he did solicit a $250 donation for the PAC at a campaign fundraiser but didn’t know where the remaining thousands of dollars had come from or where it went. He testified that everyone was referred to Grieco’s office and the donors confirmed they were solicited to donate by Grieco himself.
“Several believed they were donating for the purpose of assisting his mayoral campaign, and even notated same on their check,” the complaint says. “Most provided the donation directly to respondent [Grieco], or to an individual respondent arranged for them to meet.”
“The investigation demonstrated that, contrary to his public statements on the issue, respondent [Grieco] had been involved with every aspect of creating, operating, and funding the People For Better Leaders PAC,” the complaint says.
As for the false statements, Grieco told the Florida Bar they were “taken out of context, and/or that he had misunderstood the questions.” In an interview with reporters recorded by mutual agreement, Grieco was repeatedly asked if he had any connection to the PAC. He said no.
Ben Kuehne, the lawyer Grieco has retained to represent him, said his client is “an upstanding Florida lawyer who engaged in no misconduct in his position as a lawyer.”
“He has already put behind him his actions concerning the last Miami Beach election and is optimistic the Florida Bar will conclude he did nothing improper,” Kuehne said in a statement to the Herald. “For now, he is focused on his responsibilities as a Florida elected official working to protect the health, safety, and welfare of his constituents and all South Florida.”
GRIECO’S PAST
The fundraising matter is not the only legal issue haunting Grieco. Last month, the Florida Bar opened another inquiry into the lawmaker after it was revealed that his office was the setting of an alleged payoff to victims in a robbery case. Two NFL players had been arrested in the reported robbery. One was Grieco’s client.
According to police, the two football players, Quinton Dunbar and Deandre Baker, had shown up at a house party in Miramar, one of them had pulled a firearm and the two had made off with cash and jewelry.
At a subsequent meeting in Grieco’s office, a total of $55,000 was allegedly handed over to the accusers, after which all four signed affidavits saying Dunbar, Grieco’s client, had nothing to do with any robbery.
Grieco, who stepped out of the office as the purported payoff was made, then called police to report that the victims were dropping their complaint. He said nothing about the exchange of cash.
In still another matter, Dave Crystal, who runs an SAT prep tutor business based in Miami Beach, filed a complaint with the Florida Bar last July, alleging Grieco had “persistently and systematically harassed me and threatened me over the course of many months in 2016 and 2017.”
That complaint is at the grievance committee level, meaning an investigator has found evidence of wrongdoing and passed the case up to a committee of six lawyers and three non-lawyers who will conduct their own investigation.
This story was originally published August 6, 2020 at 7:00 AM.
