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Sen. Haridopolos offers agreement on disclosure

Posted almost 15 years ago by Stanley F Whittaker

Haridopolos shuns right to hearing

BY JEFF SCHWEERS • FLORIDA TODAY • October 30, 2010

 Looking to put the matter behind him, State Sen. Mike Haridopolos, R-Merritt Island, said he waives his right to a hearing and accepts the findings of the Florida Commission on Ethics that he violated financial disclosure laws five years in a row. 

 In the proposed agreement, Haridopolos admitted that he violated state law when he left out required information about his financial dealings on state-mandated disclosure forms from 2004 through 2008. 

Pete Dunbar, a former two-time chairman of the Ethics Commission who represents Haridopolos in the proceedings, downplayed the mistakes as minor bookkeeping errors that happen all the time and routinely get corrected before it ever goes to the commission.

"Unfortunately someone dropped the dime on Mike," Dunbar said.

Haridopolos has not returned calls seeking an interview.

Penalties for ethics violations can be as high as $10,000 per violation and removal from office if found guilty, but often are reduced to a small fine if the violator can negotiate a settlement agreement with the commission before the hearing.

Haridopolos has asked the commission to accept his stipulated agreement, enter a final order and public report.

The commission will decide on the agreement at its Dec. 3 meeting. If adopted, the file would go to the full Senate for final disposition. The Senate can either impose penalties or leave the matter as is.

Haridopolos is slated to be president of the Senate in three weeks if the Republicans maintain a majority.

The Ethics Commission ruled Haridopolos violated the law after it investigated a complaint filed by Eugene Benson, 79, of Vero Beach.

Among the errors cited were the failure to list two companies that paid thousands of dollars for Haridopolos to conduct consulting work. One, Syntax Communications, an educational and political campaign consultant from New York, was his sole client from 2004-2006 and paid him $25,000.

The other, Marketshare Systems, the advertising branch of Melbourne retail giant Appliance Direct, was his sole client in 2007 and 2008 and paid him $71,185.

Haridopolos said his company, MJH Consulting, "provides advice to private companies concerning trends in advertising and marketing issues."

Marketshares hired Haridopolos "because of his success in marketing his own political campaigns," Haridopolos told investigators. The company paid him per-job in 2007, then began keeping him on a $5,000 monthly retainer, he said.

The income is on top of the $78,000 he earns as a lecturer at the University of Florida and his $30,000 legislative salary.

Haridopolos also failed to provide accurate information on a number of assets and liabilities, including bank accounts, stocks, car loans and an investment home in Mt. Dora.

Contact Schweers at 242-3668 or jschweers@floridatoday.com.


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