MIAMI — Just after dark two Sundays ago, someone stepped into the office of Miami budget director Michael Boudreaux and deleted a series of computer files central to a federal probe of the city's finances, Miami officials say.
Now, Miami police are examining who deleted the files the night before Boudreaux was fired for his role in moving millions around to prop up the city's sagging budget. The deleted files, the mayor said, concern those transfers.
Boudreaux's attorney, Michael Pizzi, said his client was across town on Main Street in Miami Lakes on his way to see the movie Cop Out at 7 p.m. March 7 -- the moment police say the financial material was erased.
"He never deleted any records. And anyone who suggests otherwise is a liar,'' Pizzi said. "To tell you the truth, it's in his interest to protect those files.''
The files, later retrieved from the computer's mainframe, contained information requested by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in December when it launched a sweeping review into whether Miami misled bond investors about its true financial picture, according to Miami Mayor Tomás Regalado.
When he learned of the records removal, City Manager Carlos Migoya initiated a criminal probe into who was on the fifth floor of Miami's mostly locked down Riverfront Center that Sunday evening, erased the information on Boudreaux's computer and changed its password.
Read the full story at MiamiHerald.com
.JPG)
Comments