Tag Archives: bob norman

Feds Claimed North Miami Real Estate Developer Was Money Launderer For “Cuban Mafia,”Now He Is Funding PAC Tied To Marlon Bolton And A Slate Of Lauderhill Commission Candidates

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The U.S. Justice Department charged him with racketeering with “The Cuban Mafia,” now, Yoram Izhak is funding a political committee tied to Tamarac Commissioner Marlon Bolton and a slate of City of Lauderhill Commission candidates, campaign records show. In 2004, the Feds alleged Izhak was a “money launderer” for “The Corporation,” an organized crime mafia involved in drug trafficking and murder. Izhak would plead guilty to tax evasion and the more serious charges against him were dropped. Izhak, a real estate investor, owns numerous properties across south Florida including the Lauderhill Mall.

Izhak’s convictions on tax evasion, and an unrelated gun charge, caused problems with his attempts to do business with local governments.

In 2014, the Miami Dade County Commission approved a $3 million dollar grant to Izhak to refurbish a strip mall near Liberty City. According to the Miami New Times, “The county commission unanimously approved the deal without discussion January 24, though the plan’s original sponsor, Jean Monestime, pulled his name and withheld his vote at the last minute when the Miami-Dade ethics commission ruled he had a conflict of interest.” Montesime, a County Commission, leased office space from Izhak.

One month later, the Miami Dade County Commission rescinded the grant after negative publicity.

In September 2014, WPLG Channel 10 Miami reported on Yoram Izhak’s contributions to a political committee supporting then-Broward Sheriff Scott Israel. When reporter Bob Norman tried to interview Izhak outside his North Miami office, his bodyguard grabbed the television camera to prevent it.

In June 2017, the Fort Myers City Council agreed to have Izhak build a police substation on one of his properties. Two months later, the City Council terminated the agreement after learning about Izhak’s convictions. “We basically distanced ourselves,” Acting City Attorney Terry Cramer said. “We didn’t want to be involved.”

While Izhak’s criminal history caused some officials to reject ties to him or his companies, Tamarac Commissioner Marlon Bolton and Lauderhill Commissioner Denise Grant do not seem troubled.

“The Wolf Pack”

In August 2024, three companies owned by Yoram Izhak made contributions totaling $30,000 to the Broward Vision PAC. As REDBROWARD previously reported, Broward Vision PAC is chaired by Trace Robinson, a close associate of Marlon Bolton. Also, Broward Vision raises money for Bolton’s Key To The Region Gala.

In Lauderhill, Commissioner Denise Grant, a Bolton ally, is running for mayor. According to her official campaign reports, Grant received twenty-one $1,000 contributions from twenty-one separate corporate entities owned by Yoram Izhak.

John Hodgson, a candidate for Lauderhill Commission reports three $1,000 contributions from three different companies owned by Izhak. This includes a $1,000 contribution from Lauderhill Mall Investment LLC.

Lauderhill Commissioner Richard Campbell reported 25 contributions tied to Yoram Izhak.

Grant, Campbell and Hodgson appear on phony voter guides sent to Lauderhill voters.

Last week, REDBROWARD revealed Marlon Bolton’s ties to the Our Blue Democracy guides sent to voters in Sunrise and Tamarac. The Sun-Sentinel called the guides “deceptive.”

The guides in Lauderhill use the same format as the Sunrise and Tamarac guides. A picture of Commissioner Denise Grant is featured alongside photos of Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate Governor Tim Walz. The guide claims it was produced by the defunct Our Blue Democracy political committee.

A second guide claims to be the Lauderhill Democratic Voters Guide from the Black Vote Broward PAC. This guide features photos of Kamala Harris, Tim Walz, Denise Grant, Richard Campbell, John Hodgson, Ray Martin, Debbie Mucarsel-Powell and Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz.

In 2022, REDBROWARD revealed Black Vote Broward, a Federal political action committee, used images of Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, former President Barack Obama and even Martin Luther King, Jr. to fool Broward voters. Federal records show Yolanda Brown created The Black Vote Broward May 18, 2022.

In 2014, Yoram Izhak told the Daily Business Review he was done doing business with local governments. “The Miami-Dade [controversy] was all political,” Izhak said. “We’re now doing investments without any help from government. We’re not using any more government money or county money, and honestly we’re happier.”

Ten years later, Izhak is back making big contributions to Broward politicians.

Will these politicians say no to Izhak like Miami-Dade and Fort Myers?

Does Denise Grant and Co. wonder why Yoram Izhak is so generous with his support?

Was money from Yoram Izhak used to produce phony voter guides?

Voters deserve answers.

Voters will have the final say on November 5th.

School Board Candidate Allen Zeman Tries To Hide Endorsement By Controversial “Mega-Lobbyist” Neil Sterling

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Neil Sterling Removed From Allen Zeman Website

Broward School Board candidate Allen Zeman removed the endorsement by controversial “mega-lobbyist” Neil Sterling from his campaign website. Zeman’s move to hide Sterling’s support comes one day after REDBROWARD asked him about his ties to Sterling. Allen Zeman did not respond to our questions.

As REDBROWARD reported on Wednesday, Zeman told the Sun-Sentinel he would fight against the corruption plaguing Broward Schools.

“Changing culture is hard, but in this case, it must be done. Transparency needs to start now, before the election,” Zeman wrote. “The current culture is unacceptable and does disservice to our 30,000 employees, the students and all the parents of students. I will lead this effort by example.”

Sun-Sentinel questionnaire, July 2022

Allen Zeman thinks cozying up to Neil Sterling is leading by example?

Allen Zeman thinks refusing to answer questions about his ties to Neil Sterling is leading by example?

Allen Zeman thinks scrubbing Neil Sterling from his website to hide him from Broward voters is leading by example?

Some Zeman supporters and even a reporter or two think Neil Sterling’s involvement in Broward schools was too long ago to matter.

Sure, former School Board Member Beverly Gallagher was arrested 13 years ago. Yes, she finished her Federal prison sentence 9 years ago.

Yet many of the folks who helped perpetuate the corruption in Broward Schools still remain.

Others think Neil Sterling was just a lobbyist. No different from the average lobbyist pushing his or her client’s agenda.

While he was never charged with any crime, allow Bob Norman to fill in some blanks about the Neil Sterling saga:

Sterling is the quiet, behind-the-scenes corruptor at the School Board. He’s the one who helped get Beverly Gallagher a dubious job at Community Blood Centers before she was nabbed by the FBI in a corruption sting. He’s the one who holds fundraisers for School Board members that raise them tens of thousands of dollars at a pop from contractors and subcontractors who rode the board’s unnecessary school construction boom that looted hundreds of millions of dollars from taxpayers and helped saddle us all with $2 billion in district debt. He’s the one who partnered with political consultant Barbara Miller so that he could own the board members from their initial campaigns forward. And of course, he was the one who represented those same builders and architects before the board and helped get them hundreds of millions in contracts to fuel that same bogus building boom.

Although it sounds heinous, you might still think: But where’s the case? Easy. Look at Stephanie and Mitch Kraft.
Now the Krafts are knee-deep in the corruption investigation involving dirty developers Bruce and Shawn Chait. That’s being handled by the State Attorney’s Office right now, but what nobody is talking about is the fact that Mitch Kraft, Stephanie’s husband, was secretly on Sterling’s payroll for the better part of two years.

Stephanie Kraft voted on Sterling’s projects every step of the way, never disclosing that her husband was being paid by the lobbyist. But here’s the coup de grace: Stephanie Kraft personally steered through a lucrative and highly controversial contract for Sterling’s client in the health care world, Vista Healthplan Inc., to make Vista the sole provider of health insurance for board employees.

She sat on the Superintendent’s Insurance Advisory Committee and used her position to back Vista. She helped the firm get a three-year contract to provide health insurance to 41,000 school district employees. The contract was worth $1.7 billion. That averages out to about $565 million a year. Previous contracts to cover school district employees had cost about $200 million a year. The reason for the huge increase has never been explained.

Vista has jacked up rates on employees’ children by as much as 45 percent. The huge rate increase will add hundreds of dollars each month to the bills of many shocked and dismayed employees. The committee on which Kraft sits voted unanimously to approve the increase before the full board voted to authorize it. The committee was made up of several district officials, a couple of union officials, and three board members, including Kraft, the terrible Bob Parks, and Robin Bartleman. Five companies made the short list, but the committee voted Vista as number one. It was Kraft’s job to rank the companies, and she led the charge for Vista. She gave Vista a whopping score of 95, versus her second-highest score of 81 for Humana. Of course, she never revealed that her husband was on Sterling’s payroll at the time.

Bob Norman, New Times July 2010
Allen Zeman

(Editors Note: This reporter served on the Broward Schools Diversity Committee as an appointee of two board members, the final one being Donna Korn. I have not had any contact with Korn since 2018.)