Dade Medical College Owner To Pay $2,000 For Ethics Violations

Career College Central Summary:

Dade Medical College owner Ernesto Perez on Wednesday agreed to pay $2,000 to the Miami-Dade ethics commission — part of a settlement agreement over accusations that Perez engaged in improper lobbying.
“We are grateful to put this matter behind us,” said Perez’s criminal defense attorney, Michael Band. Band noted that Perez “made no admission of guilt” in the ethics case.
The $2,000 penalty includes a $1,500 fine and costs of $500. Perez will also accept a “Letter of Instruction” from the ethics commission, which has yet to be drafted.
Until his recent troubles, Perez was a rising star in the lucrative world of for-profit colleges.
Perez spent at least $170,000 on political campaign contributions and put some elected officials on his payroll. Though the ethics case is now resolved,
Perez still faces other, more serious legal issues.
He has a pending criminal case for allegedly lying about his criminal past on government forms.Perez is also the target of a separate ongoing criminal probe into possible campaign finance violations.
His attorney declined to comment on that issue Wednesday. “I’m not going to comment about any allegations which are currently pending, and may pan out and may not pan out,” Band said.
Perez’s attorney criticized the lobbyist registration requirements in Homestead, where most of the alleged violations occurred, as “ambiguous at best.”

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