Posted on Wed, Aug. 18, 2004
Political money scam alleged
The sister-in-law of a County Commission candidate schemed to help him get public financing, prosecutors say. Her arrest comes as officials announce a special team to handle reports of fraud and voter concerns.
BY TERE FIGUERAS
tfigueras@herald.com
The sister-in-law of a Miami-Dade County Commission candidate was arrested Tuesday -- accused of faking campaign contributions from co-workers and then telling them to lie to investigators, according to the state attorney's office.
Rita Lazara Picazo, whose brother-in-law is District 13 candidate Jorge Roque, is facing six felony counts for what investigators say was a scheme to file bogus contributions in order to help Roque qualify for public financing.
Roque, who is running against incumbent Commissioner Natacha Seijas in Northwest Dade, has not been charged, but his campaign account was frozen by a court order.
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Picazo's arrest is notable for another reason:
She is the second person charged this election season with taking advantage of recently enacted campaign reforms intended to level the political playing field. Last week, the lone challenger to Commissioner Bruno Barreiro was disqualified from the District 5 race after an arrest on fraud charges.
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