Joseph Louis, executive director of Galata Inc., a Homestead social services agency, is challenging the findings of an audit that accuses his nonprofit organization of misspending part of a $500,000 Miami-Dade County grant. In January, Miami-Dade’s inspector general claimed Galata took $77,307 to settle unpaid payroll taxes with the IRS…

As his Hialeah sugar company burned through cash and failed to pay employees, vendors, and landlords, Alexander I. Perez gave plum jobs to former drug-trafficker buddies and raised bundles of cash for Danilo Medina, president of the Dominican Republic.Two weeks ago, Perez’s Banah Sugar filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, reporting…

Florida has some of the nation’s toughest anti-marijuana laws. For instance, anyone caught growing at least 25 plants in their home can be charged with a second-degree felony and face a maximum sentence of 15 years. Even the feds aren’t that draconian. They at least give you 99 plants before…

A former drug trafficker who found a lucrative career in Medicare fraud shortly after his release from prison is getting another 14 years in the slammer. On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Cecilia M. Altonaga sentenced Armando “Mandy” Gonzalez for orchestrating a $63 million Medicare scam between 2004 and 2011. He…

Things have gone sour for Banah Sugar. The fledgling, troubled Hialeah-based sugar company has filed for bankruptcy protection less than a year after city and county leaders renamed a local roadway “Banah Sweet Way” and promised to give the firm $400,000 in tax breaks if it hired 300 people. On…

Yikes! Michael Samuel has some explaining to do in New Orleans. The co-developer of Midtown Miami has reportedly been fingered in an federal indictment of Ray Nagin, the former mayor of the Big Easy who rose to national prominence in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Nagin is accused…

Ari Pregen picked the wrong strip club to throw his weight around. On January 26, the Miami-Dade assistant state attorney gained free admission for himself and two pals into downtown Miami’s Goldrush by flashing his work badge at the club’s executive manager, Jeff Levy. A few hours later, Pregen again…

For this week’s cover story, I dove headfirst into South Florida’s gun culture to find out why so many people in the tri-county area — and the Sunshine State — are into firearms. While President Barack Obama and other Democratic leaders are pushing to reinstate the federal assault-weapons ban that…

The latest chapter in the tumultuous saga of Doral’s U.S. Century Bank could spell trouble for some of the biggest names in Miami-Dade politics, with accusations of shady boardroom deals.It all began last November, when a group of minority shareholders — including real estate developer Masoud Shojaee and Coral Gables…

Miami Beach City Commissioner Deede Weithorn’s husband is literally trying to cash in on the city’s name. Mark Weithorn is auctioning off “www.CityOfMiamiBeach.net.” Minimum bid: 50 cool Benjamin Franklin notes or 100,000 nickels. The deadline is March 8. Highest bidder wins, of course.And here Banana Republican thought cyber-squatting was so…

If you thought Miami-Dade County had nothing left to build at Miami International Airport, think again. Today, Aviation Department Director Jose Abreu will unveil the county’s ambitious plan to convert the main terminal into a futuristic hotel and mall that will cost a little more than half-a-billion dollars.The estimated $512…

Adding a state-of-the-art casino with 1,035 slot machines has turned one of Miami’s oldest parimutuel sites into an enormous money maker. Last year, Casino Miami Jai-Alai, located near Miami International Airport, collected $17.3 million in third quarter revenue compared to $1.8 million for the same period in 2011. No wonder…

What’s worse than emerging from a delicious meal at a hip hotel to find your six-figure Porsche wrecked by valet drivers? Getting banned for life from the hotel chain over the crash.That’s what one Key Biscayne resident alleges happened to him at SoBe hot spot Soho Beach House. Now, in…

Angelina and Michele Mastrangelo seemingly reveled in “popping it” for two Miami Beach police officers who arrested them a couple of days before Christmas. Police station video footage — first published on local blog Random Pixels — shows the hand-cuffed Toronto siblings voraciously showing off some comical booty-shaking for cops…

Back in 2008, Galata Inc., a social service agency that assists minorities and low income residents in Homestead, was one of 37 local non-profit organizations that received a no-questions-asked Miami-Dade County grant. Galata got $500,000 from a $30 million pot that was part of the county’s Building Better Communities general…

Jeb Bush Jr. is one of the future faces of the Republican Party. He is the 29-year-old president of Bush Realty and sits on the boards of several local corporations. The youngest son of Florida’s former governor is even considered a possible contender against Democratic Congressman Joe Garcia in 2014…

While conducting research for an upcoming article, Banana Republican came across this nifty tool on the Miami-Dade County Police Department’s website called “Crime Mapping.” Basically you can track criminal activity in any neighborhood in the city of Miami and unincorporated Miami-Dade.Imagine Google maps allowing you to pinpoint where the highest…