{"id":101300,"date":"2025-12-31T16:09:16","date_gmt":"2025-12-31T16:09:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/101300\/"},"modified":"2025-12-31T16:09:16","modified_gmt":"2025-12-31T16:09:16","slug":"top-south-florida-scandals-of-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/101300\/","title":{"rendered":"Top South Florida Scandals of 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\tUniversity of Miami students were enraged by social media footage of a man kicking the school’s beloved Muscovy duck, Ivan.\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

WSVN<\/a> screenshot<\/p>\n

Every year, as children painstakingly enumerate their material wants alongside their virtuous bona fides in hopes that Santa will shower them with all their li\u2019l hearts\u2019 desires, Miami New Times is hard at work compiling a different sort of list.<\/p>\n

We recall to mind those who, rather than bringing honor to South Florida, cause us to cringe at the sting of guilt by association.<\/p>\n

Because what would the Magic City be without scams, heists, science denialism, assorted idiocy, and brawls over [checks notes] country club prime rib?<\/p>\n

Those who made the cut made headlines for various degrees of alleged faux pas, from getting busted for kicking a duck on a college campus to hawking art forgeries to depriving the entire Sunshine State of tooth decay prevention.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMiami, make your New Year\u2019s Resolution Count!\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

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Et freaking cetera.<\/p>\n

Behold, listed alphabetically by shame bringer, New Times\u2018 Dirty Dozen Class of 2025.<\/p>\n

The Asshole Who Kicked Ivan the UM Duck<\/p>\n

\"AUniversity of Miami students were enraged by social media footage of a man kicking the school\u2019s beloved Muscovy duck, Ivan.<\/p>\n

While this list is rife with dastardly behavior, no perpetrator is quite as foul fowl as the unidentified asshole who assaulted Ivan the Muscovy duck<\/a> on the University of Miami (UM) campus in August of 2025. As was first reported by the UM student newspaper, the Hurricane<\/a>, campus police began investigating video footage of a person kicking the duck and a photo of another person grabbing what appeared to be the same duck by the wings on the Coral Gables campus. A social-media firestorm ensued. Everyone was certain the victim was Ivan, a campus celebrity beloved for his good nature. Many noted that the culprit was sporting the school\u2019s colors and wore what appeared to be a UM-issued lanyard. Notably, Muscovy ducks are considered an invasive species <\/a>in Florida. While they\u2019re protected under the federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service has issued a control order for the species, and UM has previously removed the birds from campus grounds. Coral Gables cops reportedly arrested the duck-kicker<\/a>, whom they cited with a so-called promise to appear (a common approach for offenses deemed minor in the eyes of the law). The good news: Members of UPurr<\/a>, UM\u2019s cat lovers club, confirmed that Ivan was alive and well.<\/p>\n

Mordechai Brafman\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"AMordechai Brafman, pictured in his mugshot and at a court hearing, allegedly fired 17 rounds at men he believed to be Palestinian.<\/p>\n

On February 15, 2025, in a case of xenophobically induced mistaken identity, Mordechai Brafman<\/a>, a 27-year-old Jewish Miami Beach resident, allegedly fired 17 rounds at a car, believing its occupants were Palestinian. Brafman\u2019s intended victims \u2014 one of whom was shot in the shoulder, the other grazed on the arm \u2014 were actually two Israeli Jews visiting the U.S. Brafman, a plumber, was arrested on two counts of attempted murder. According to an incident report, he told investigators that \u201cwhile he was driving his truck, he saw two Palestinians and shot and killed both.\u201d Brafman\u2019s attorney told New Times that his client \u201cwas experiencing a severe mental health emergency.\u201d Court records indicate that the defense plans to plead not guilty by reason of insanity. Brafman, who spent time in a court-ordered mental health inpatient program, is now under monitored release pending trial.<\/p>\n

Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick<\/p>\n

\"AU.S. Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick\u2019s official portrait shows a yellow diamond ring on her finger. <\/p>\n

During the pandemic, while the rest of us were streaming Tiger King and committing unspeakable crimes against sourdough, U.S. Rep. Cherfilus-McCormick was running Trinity Healthcare Services, a company the State of Florida retained to register people for vaccines. After Trinity invoiced the state for $50,000, someone did a tiny whoopsie and overpaid the firm by, oh, about $5.7 million. Rather than raising a red flag, Cherfilus-McCormick allegedly loaned herself $6.2 million<\/a> for a 2022 congressional run. In June 2024, after the error was discovered, the state asked for its money back. Trinity demurred. A House Ethics Committee report later determined that the Broward congresswoman may have violated campaign-finance laws. Her 2026 challenger, Elijah Manley, called it \u201ccorruption\u201d (which prompted her to sue him for defamation<\/a>). In November, a federal grand jury indicted Cherfilus-McCormick<\/a> on charges of stealing federal disaster-relief funds and laundering them into her campaign. Investigators also say she dropped roughly $109,000 on what seems to be a Tiffany & Co. yellow diamond<\/a>. \u201cDisaster relief,\u201d but make it fashun!<\/p>\n

Carlos Duart & Tina Vidal Duart\u00a0<\/p>\n

Seven months after Gov. Ron DeSantis reappointed Carlos Duart to the Florida International University Board of Trustees and appointed his wife, Tina Vidal-Duart, to the Florida Atlantic University Board of Trustees, the couple\u2019s consulting firm, CDR Companies<\/a>, was one of many that rushed to help erect the controversial Alligator Alcatraz immigration detention facility in the Everglades. The remote tent city had barely opened for business in early July of 2025 when the Duarts\u2019 names, and those of their fellow contractors, were plastered across the news. As state contractors at the 39-square-mile site\u00a0hastened to mask logos and U.S. Department of Transportation registration numbers<\/a>\u00a0on their trucks in violation of state and federal regulations, the Duarts engineered their own digital disappearing act, quietly vanishing<\/a> from their own company websites.<\/p>\n

Paul Fluty<\/p>\n

\"APaul Fluty, 39, was arrested in Volusia County for allegedly impersonating a police officer.<\/p>\n

In 2020, Paul Fluty was honored as \u201cOfficer of the Year\u201d by the Miami-Dade Sheriff\u2019s Office (formerly the Miami-Dade Police Department) for stopping criminals. Now, he\u2019s accused of being one. Last September, only months after the sheriff\u2019s office fired him for failing a drug test tied to a domestic violence case, the 39-year-old was arrested near Orlando<\/a> for impersonating law enforcement. Police say he was essentially cosplaying as a cop, claiming to be a Miami-Dade officer working with the U.S. Marshals to search for a 13-year-old missing girl. \u201cGoogle my name. I got officer of the year and everything,\u201d he told Volusia County deputies before they whisked him off to jail. Following his arrest, Fluty told police he\u2019d provided his old badge and credentials \u201cout of habit\u201d and \u201cby mistake,\u201d and that he\u2019d \u201caccidentally\u201d claimed to be a police officer<\/a>. Volusia County officials stated that they discovered documents indicating Fluty was working as a private investigator and may have been in the area in connection with an insurance case. He has pleaded not guilty; a trial date is pending.<\/p>\n

Tyreek Hill\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"TyreekTyreek Hill\u2019s estranged wife Keeta Vaccaro filed for divorce in April, alleging multiple instances of abuse throughout their 17-month marriage.<\/p>\n

Last year\u2019s Dirty Dozen included Miami-Dade police officer Danny Torres<\/a>, who hauled Miami Dolphins wideout Tyreek Hill out of his sports car<\/a> outside of Hard Rock Stadium ahead of the Miami Dolphins\u2019 2024 home opener. Now the wide receiver will go down in history alongside Torres in the annals of local ignominy for his issues off the field. Even before Hill\u2019s brutal, season-ending knee injury<\/a>, it was a rough year for the man known as the Cheetah. Last April, the Sunny Isles Beach Police Department responded to a call about a domestic dispute at the Collins Avenue home of Hill and his wife, Keeta Vaccaro. Vaccaro\u2019s mother told police that Hill had thrown her daughter\u2019s laptop to the floor and taken their infant daughter out to a 35th-floor balcony. Footage of the incident<\/a> later shared on social media showed Hill holding the baby. A day after the incident, Vaccaro filed for divorce. In a subsequent court filing<\/a>, she alleged that Hill had been abusive to her on eight separate occasions over the course of their 17-month marriage, including while she was pregnant. Hill\u2019s attorney dismissed the allegations<\/a> as \u201cunsubstantiated\u201d and \u201cuntrue,\u201d calling the court filing a \u201cshakedown.\u201d The NFL is reviewing the matter.<\/p>\n

Michael Hudak<\/p>\n

\"AMiami police arrested WSVN-ABC News reporter Michael Hudak for allegedly stealing a $16,000 Rolex from his neighbor.<\/p>\n

One of the fundamental principles of journalism is that a reporter shouldn\u2019t be part of the story. Apparently, one Miami journalist missed that memo. Just weeks after covering the multimillion-dollar heist of Miami Heat memorabilia<\/a> by a former security employee \u2014 for more about that crime, see Perez, Marcos Thomas, below \u2014 WPLG (Local10) reporter Michael Hudak<\/a> became the subject of a theft investigation himself. In August, the 29-year-old was arrested for allegedly stealing his neighbor\u2019s $16,000 Rolex while the neighbor was traveling in Spain. Police say Hudak later pawned the watch for $7,000 and admitted to the theft via text message, writing that \u201c[i]t was a different version of me that took the watch.\u201d WPLG suspended Hudak from his role without pay shortly after his arrest.\u00a0Miami-Dade court documents indicate he has pleaded not guilty to all charges. The case is pending.<\/p>\n

Joseph Ladapo<\/p>\n

\"FloridaFlorida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo wants to end all vaccination requirements for children.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat you put into your body is because of your relationship with your body and your God.\u201d No, that\u2019s not a megachurch pastor warming up the congregation; it\u2019s Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo<\/a> offering his extremely scientific, completely uncontroversial take on vaccine mandates. Last March, during a Miami-Dade Safety and Health Committee meeting, Ladapo called fluoride \u201cneurotoxic\u201d<\/a> and \u201ctoxic to the thyroid,\u201d and eight kids \u2014 mysteriously not in school on a Tuesday \u2014 parroted his claims. Never mind that the American Dental Association calls water fluoridation the single most effective tool to prevent tooth decay. By July, Florida became the second U.S. state to ban<\/a> the addition of fluoride to public water systems. Then in September, Ladapo stood with Gov. Ron DeSantis to announce that he wants Florida to end all vaccine mandates. Politicians across the spectrum<\/a> condemned the move as measles cases hit their highest levels since 2000, killing three unvaccinated people<\/a>, including two children in Texas.<\/p>\n

Marcos Tomas Perez<\/p>\n

\"AMarco Tomas Perez<\/p>\n

In a city full of schemers, a former police officer and Miami Heat employee may merit the dubious distinction of 2025\u2019s most audacious thief. Marcos Tomas Perez<\/a> stole millions of dollars\u2019 worth of Heat game-worn jerseys and memorabilia and sold them to online brokers, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced in early August. A 25-year veteran of the Miami Police Department, Perez went to work for the National Basketball Association in 2022 as a security officer for the Heat. He worked game-day security at the Kaseya Center, where \u201che was among a limited number of trusted individuals with access to a secured equipment room,\u201d according to a DOJ press release. Over the course of his tenure, Perez stole more than 400 game-worn jerseys and other items, flipping more than 100 of them for a total of nearly $2 million. \u201cAs an example, Perez sold a game-worn LeBron James Miami Heat NBA Finals jersey for approximately $100,000. That same jersey later sold at a Sotheby\u2019s auction for $3.7 million,\u201d according to the feds. Two weeks after he was charged, the 62-year-old defendant agreed to plead guilty to a single count of transporting stolen goods, though at this writing, the two sides are still wrangling about how much time the ex-cop ought to serve for his purloinings.<\/p>\n

Leslie Roberts<\/p>\n

\"photoLeslie Roberts at his gallery<\/p>\n

Miami Fine Art Gallery photo<\/p>\n

A retired FBI agent who devoted his three-decade career to investigating art fraud worldwide told\u00a0New Times that\u00a0he\u2019ll never forget\u00a0Leslie Roberts, owner of the now-shuttered Miami Fine Art Gallery in Coconut Grove<\/a>. The five-foot-three, toupee-topped art dealer and TikTok luminary<\/a> has claimed to be a \u201cnative New Yorker turned Miami cultural icon\u201d who studied art business and art history at New York University and interned at Sotheby\u2019s. In the real world, however, Les Roberts grew up in Miami. After his mother shot and killed his father when he was 13, he went to live with his great-aunt and -uncle in Miami Lakes. He later enrolled at the University of Miami but dropped out after two semesters. He has two federal convictions on his r\u00e9sum\u00e9, one dating back to the 1980s for defrauding his great-uncle and another in 2015 for selling forged Peter Max artwork. In addition to a steady stream of lawsuits<\/a>, Roberts is now facing wire-fraud and money-laundering charges for allegedly selling millions of dollars\u2019 worth of forged Andy Warhol artworks. Federal prosecutors say Roberts told his victims that he purchased the pieces directly from the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts. An April 2025 criminal indictment<\/a> alleges that one of his employees pretended to work for an international auction house to authenticate the fakes. Despite strict bail conditions that barred him from selling art, Roberts operated an art gift shop just 400 feet away from his gallery, which was shuttered last year after the FBI raided it. After New Times reported on Roberts\u2019 Miami Fine Art Gallery Gift Shop<\/a>, Roberts transformed the store into Labubu Headquarters, peddling the popular Chinese collectibles. Six days after New Times shared news of that new hustle<\/a>, Labubu Headquarters announced on Instagram that the store would be moving. \u201cStay tuned, Labubu lovers,\u201d the post reads. \u201cWe\u2019re cooking up something exciting. Our new location is coming soon \u2014can\u2019t wait to see you all again. The account has not posted since.<\/p>\n

Mark Roher<\/p>\n

When you think of meatheads in South Florida, you are probably thinking of that unnaturally muscled dude posing for mirror selfies in his tank at the gym. Well, meet Mark Roher<\/a>, a new breed of Miami Meathead. While attending a wedding in January at the Boca Lago Country Club in Boca Raton, the 53-year-old attorney allegedly flew into a blind rage after the man in front of him allowed his daughter and another young girl to join him in line for the prime rib carving station. According to the police report, \u201cthe large, bald man\u201d (that would be Roher) struck \u201cthe slimmer man\u201d (the victim) on the head with a dinner plate, and chaos ensued. In his police interview, Roher told officers that he was upset that the two young women had cut the line and got into an argument with the man, but he denied hitting him on the head with a plate. However, a country club employee confirmed to police that she saw the plate shatter on the victim\u2019s noggin. (Note: The event was a dry party, meaning no alcohol was served.) Roher was arrested and charged with felony aggravated battery with a deadly weapon. The charge was ultimately reduced to misdemeanor battery, which Palm Beach County prosecutors deferred after Roher covered the court costs and paid the skinny fellow $3,000 in restitution. That said, it\u2019s safe to say Roher didn\u2019t ring in the new year at the Boca Lago Country Club carving station this week \u2014 he was banned for a year.<\/p>\n

James Uthmeier<\/p>\n

\"FloridaFlorida Attorney General James Uthmeier threatened lawsuits against police departments that hesitated to sign immigration enforcement agreements.<\/p>\n

When he wasn\u2019t railing against vaccines, endorsing other conservatives for office, or posting about nabbing child predators, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier spent the summer bullying local police departments<\/a> into signing immigration enforcement agreements. For months, the prolific social media warrior took to X (formerly Twitter) to threaten lawsuits against South Florida cities that did not sign the federal 287(g) agreement, which provides training and authority for local officers to act as deportation agents. Uthmeier spent months threatening to sue municipalities like South Miami (which filed an ill-fated lawsuit seeking to thwart the state\u2019s overreach) and Key West<\/a>. Uthmeier enjoyed other extracurricular activities during his first year as attorney general, including tweeting several times a day from his personal and official accounts \u2014 to disparage, among countless other evils, the popular online kids\u2019 game Roblox<\/a> and the sinister DEI practices at Starbucks<\/a> (for which the state sued the caffeine colossus).<\/p>\n

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