Perez-Cruz declined to comment on the bank account or the investigation. Her attorney, Jeffrey Feiler, said last week he was unaware of the arrangement. Commissioner Reboredo's lawyer, well-known Miami criminal defense attorney Milton Hirsch, acknowledged the joint account but downplayed its significance. Someday Adelfa will die, and someday Fidel will die, and in a free Cuba some good use will be made of the money. The salary shifts involve current Reboredo aide Omar de Armas and former aide Michael Morejon.
County records show dramatic swings in the two men's pay rates over short periods of time.
De Armas's salary nearly doubled in October 1998, only to be reduced to its previous level four months later. Neither de Armas nor Morejon could be reached for comment, and last week attorney Hirsch said he knew nothing about the employees' salaries. Hirsch did blame the allegations swirling around his client on poor recordkeeping. We will reply that we are lousy bookkeepers, but we are damn good public servants. An anonymous law-enforcement source quoted in the Miami Herald this past February characterized the case as spotty and expressed uncertainty as to whether any potential offense would be considered criminal or civil.