David Rivera Makes CREW List

The Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington have named Rep. David Rivera and Rep. Vern Buchanan to their most corrupt members of Congress list.

Rivera is being investigated by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, IRS and FBI. Rivera failed to report a $137,000 loan he received from Millennium Marketing. This lobbying firm is run by members of Rivera's family.

Millennium Marketing, Inc. is a consulting firm that sits at the center of the investigations into Rep. Rivera’s personal and campaign finances. The company was founded as Millennium Marketing Strategies, Inc. in 2000 by Rep. Rivera’s mother, Daisy Magarino, but according to state incorporation records it dissolved the following year. Nevertheless, Rep. Rivera included income from Millennium Marketing on his state financial disclosure forms between 2002 and 2005. In 2006, records show Rep. Rivera’s godmother, Ileana Medina, created Millennium Marketing,Inc. and Ms. Magarino has been listed on state records as a company vice president since 2008

Millennium Marketing was working for Flagler Dog Track to get the Florida legislature to approve slot machines for the track. Rivera supported slot machine legislation. Rivera approached Flagler on the behave of Millennium Marketing.

Rep. Rivera initially denied working for the dog track, but later released a statement acknowledging his role. A lawyer for the dog track said it was Rep. Rivera who had firstapproached the track and asked to manage the campaign. Rep. Rivera also requested any payments be made through Millennium Marketing instead of directly to him.

The question is was the loan really a loan.

Rivera put to Miami-Dade Republican Party into debt by paying fees to the Communication Solutions. The only employee of Communication Solutions is Rivera's girlfriend Esther Nuhfer. The only client Nuhfer has ever had is Rivera. The media reported that Nuhfer has been interviewed by the FBI. The Republican Party of Florida has no rtecord of Rivera's payment to Communication Solutions.

Most Corrupt 2011: Rep. David Rivera (R-FL)

Wanted: David Rivera

The Florida Democratic Party has sent out this nifty Rep. David Rivera wanted poster. Rivera hasn't held townhall meeetings. That might have something to do with Rivera not wanting to answer questions about why he is being investigated by the FBI, IRS, Miami-Dade Police Public Corruption Unit, and Florida Department of Law Enforcement. Rivera has another problem. His campaign is broke. According to OpenSecrets.org, his campaign has raised $110,324 and has $151,581 in debt. Rivera ran the Miami-Dade Republican Party into debt. Rivera spent $250,000 of Miami-Dade Republican Party money for Communication Solutions. Rivera's girlfriend Esther Nuhfer is the only employee of Communication Solutions. Nuhfer's only client is Rivera. Her office is a home in a residential community. I checked Google Maps for a business address for Communication Solutions in Coral Gables. There is none. An online profile of Communication Solutions shows the address to be a PO box.

PO BOX 143657 CORAL GABLES FL 33114-3657 US

Communication Solutions is what is known as a virtual company. Translation. It exists on the internet but not in the real world. This is usually how people set up bogus companies. Interesting tidbit is Nuhfer donated to the 2010 campaigns of Rivera, Sandy Adams and Rivera's former roommate Marco Rubio.

No Surprise: David Rivera Investigated by FBI & IRS

This isn't really news. There has been rumors for quite some time that the FBI and IRS are investigating Rep. David Rivera.

Federal investigators have opened a second criminal probe of U.S. Rep. David Rivera, examining undisclosed payments from a Miami gambling enterprise to a company tied to the Republican congressman, The Miami Herald has learned.

Agents with the FBI and the Internal Revenue Service have begun interviewing witnesses knowledgeable about a $1 million consulting contract between Flagler Dog Track — now known as Magic City Casino — and Millennium Marketing, a company co-owned by Rivera’s 70-year-old mother and her business partner, according to sources familiar with the investigation.

The involvement of the IRS and the questions agents have asked indicate Rivera is the subject of an income-tax evasion inquiry, said a source.

The investigation goes beyond the exchange of money between Rivera and his family members through the Flagler Dog Track and Millennium Marketing. Rivera received $137,000 and did not report it. Rivera later claimed it was a loan. How many politicians receive loans from lobbying organizations run by his mother and godmother.

This is the classic shakedown job by a politician.

But Martinez told The Herald last year that it was Rivera who first approached the dog track about running the pro-slots campaign, and it was Rivera who suggested that the contract go through Millennium. Dog track officials had no contact with Medina or Magarino during the contract negotiations, Martinez said last year. Rivera signed the 2006 contract with Magic City along with Medina, records show.

Rivera then set-up family members to run Millennium Marketing. The loan looks like a secret funneling of money. Flagler Dog Track got its casino slot machines. The Rivera family got paid off for pushing slot machine legislation through the Florida legislature.

Esther Nurfer was interviewed by the FBI. Rivera made $150,000 and $250,000 payments to Nurfer's consulting firm Communication Solutions. The funny thing is the Republican Party of Florida have no record of these transactions. Nurfer is Rivera's girlfriend.

The Fiscal Conservatism of David Rivera

It seems David Rivera wasn't a fiscal conservative when it came to managing the finances of the Miami-Dade Republican Party.

"We have expenditures that are unsustainable," the party's chairman, state Rep. Erik Freen of Miami, said Wednesday night to the members of the local GOP, also known as the Republican Executive Committee.

Fresen took over for Rivera last December. The Miami-Dade Republican Party's fiscal year ended with $12.66. As chair of the Miami-Dade Republican Party, Rivera paid Communication Solutions $250,000. The Miami-Dade Republican Party could find no record of the transaction. Communication Solutions is run by Rivera's girlfriend Esther Nuhfer.

Fresen was forced to hold the party's Lincoln Day Dinner to bring in contributions. At the time of this post, the Miami-Dade Republican Party has $1,097.11 in the bank.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement has been heading an investigation on Rivera. The investigation centers on a $510,000 payment Flagler Dog Track made to Millennium Marketing, which is owned by Rivera's mother and godmother. This was around the time Flagler was lobbying the Florida legislature for slot machines. Rivera received $137,000 from Millennium Marketing. Rivera did not disclose the money. After the money was discovered, Rivera claimed it was a loan.

I need a scorecard to keep up with Rivera's scandals.