Ex-Miami commissioner Alex Diaz de la Portilla faces new lawsuit alleging marina shakedown

Lobbyist Manuel Prieguez relaunched his legal offensive against former Miami commissioner Alex Diaz de la Portilla, filing an amended lawsuit over an alleged shakedown involving a city marina contract.

Last month, Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Mavel Ruiz tossed Prieguez’s previous lawsuit, filed last year, ruling that Diaz de la Portilla had legislative immunity for votes he made in connection with the city’s competitive process for development of a new boat dock facility at Virginia Key in 2020. 

In the refiled version of his complaint, filed last week, Prieguez alleges that Diaz de la Portilla participated in acts outside his official duties by allegedly conspiring with two associates, lobbyist Humberto Hernandez and lawyer Anibal Duarte-Viera. They allegedly sought a partnership stake in a marina proposal submitted by Prieguez’s client, a team led by Abad Melwani, president of Rickenbacker Marina. Hernandez and Duarte-Viera are also named as defendants.

Melwani’s family-owned company has operated the current boat dock facility on city-owned land in Virginia Key for decades. 

Attorneys for Diaz de la Portilla, Hernandez and Duarte-Viera did not respond to requests for comment. The trio have previously denied any wrongdoing, refuting Prieguez’s allegations as false. Hernandez has a pending countersuit against Prieguez for defamation. 

Prieguez, a former state legislator, accuses Diaz de la Portilla and his two associates of illegally seeking financial benefit by allegedly trading the then-city commissioner’s vote in exchange for cutting Duarte-Viera in on Rickenbacker Marina’s planned new project. Prieguez’s lawsuit also alleges that the three defendants engaged in tortious interference by harming his lobbyist business because he wouldn’t convince Melwani to play ball on their alleged scheme. 

The city commission ended up throwing out two separate requests for proposal processes in 2020 and 2021. Also in 2021, Miami’s elected officials voted to bypass more competitive bidding and selected Melwani’s proposal for a referendum in that year’s November city election. A majority of residents voted against it. 

Last year, a joint venture between RCI Group and Suntex — Melwani’s marina rivals — won a court ruling that ordered the city to hold a new referendum for its proposal. Miami officials have not yet set an election date.

Meanwhile, Diaz de la Portilla was suspended from office in September following his arrest on bribery, official misconduct and other criminal charges. He allegedly spearheaded a no-bid park deal on behalf of Miami Beach power couple David and Leila Centner, in exchange for illegal campaign contributions to a pair of political action committees controlled by Diaz de la Portilla, according to state prosecutors.