The FBI and IRS are
investigating Pasco County Commissioner Jack Mariano’s ties
to the disbursement of a $600,000 anonymous donation
intended to help outfit a county-owned park, and his later
purchase of vacant Gulf-front property earmarked for a
condominium development.
Jamie Maloney, the former head of Student Survival Inc., the
defunct charity that distributed the donation, said he was
interviewed Friday by agents from the two federal agencies.
He said their questions focused on Mariano.
Thomas Girouard, one of the investors in the proposed
condominium development, said he was interviewed by an FBI
agent this week and that the questions concerned the
Gulf-front property purchase.
”I told them I’ve known Jack Mariano for several years. He
has helped me with issues before the county board in his
official capacity. He never asked for anything in return,”
Girouard said. “There has always been a very professional
relationship. We invested in an investment but there was
never any use of his political clout.”
A federal grand jury subpoena obtained by the Tampa Bay
Times requests all “documents and information” relating to
any business, real estate, commercial or financial dealings
involving Mariano, SunWest Park and the waterfront property
going back to 2015. It says the grand jury will convene in
Tampa on Dec. 10.
Mariano himself issued a statement Friday saying he was
interviewed by FBI agents, but did not say what they asked
him about.
The Pasco County Sheriff’s Office began investigating the
circumstances surrounding the six-figure donation more than
two years ago amid criticism that the entire contribution
was not used for its intended use: to pay for improvements
at the county-owned SunWest Park in Hudson.
The investigation remains open but the FBI is now the lead
agency, said sheriff’s assistant executive director Chase
Daniels in an email sent Friday to the Times.
FBI spokeswoman Andrea Aprea of the Tampa office said the
agency “does not confirm nor deny the existence of an
investigation, nor do we release information pertaining to
interviews.”
Mariano was first elected to the commission in 2004 and is
the father of State Rep. Amber Mariano, R-Hudson. She and
her father were both re-elected earlier this month, as Jack
Mariano won his fifth, four-year term. He issued this
statement Friday through his attorney John Lauro:
“This week I became aware that the government is conducting
an investigation. I am unaware of the source of any
complaint or the scope of the investigation. I understand
that several people have been interviewed about property
developments in the county. I too was interviewed by the FBI
and cooperated fully. I have conducted my duties lawfully
and appropriately and in the best interests of the people of
Pasco County.”
Mariano announced during a September 2015 commission meeting
that a benefactor who wished to remain anonymous wanted to
donate $600,000 for the park. It was supposed to pay for
additional parking, a second restroom and a splash pad for
children.
Some of the work got done, but the county eventually
intervened to complete the restrooms. The splash pad didn’t
get built.
The county had earlier estimated that the improvements would
cost $1.45 million, but Gary Grubbs, owner of the adjoining
property, said he would match the contribution with in-kind
donations to complete the park additions.
In 2015, Mariano described the benefactor as a retiree who
has lived in Pasco County for about 20 years. He said the
man had followed the park’s development, asked for a tour
and volunteered financial assistance. The donation was
funneled through Students Survival Inc., a nonprofit group
working to bolster the community and to assist low-income
Hudson-area children with after-school programs and sports
activities.
In a prior interview with the Times, Mariano was critical of
Maloney’s handling of the donation.
But Maloney on Friday defended himself: “Everything related
to SunWest we did at the direction of Jack.”
However, Students Survival spent some of the money in a
project allowing a group of teens and young adults to build
a race car capable of competing at the Daytona International
Speedway. Maloney said the donation came with no specific
earmark to the park and the race car was intended to become
a perpetual fund-raising source to finance the charity’s
activities. Students Survival shut down in 2018.
Grubbs on Friday also criticized Maloney’s oversight of the
money.
“I never could get an accounting,’' said Grubbs, who has had
his own clashes with the IRS over allegations of unpaid
taxes.
In March 2018, Mariano paid $900,000 in a cash deal for an
undeveloped 8.37-acre parcel fronting the Gulf of Mexico.
The Hudson parcel adjoins the Gulf Islands Beach and Tennis
Resort on Sea Ranch Drive and is zoned for a multi-family
high-rise.
Under the arrangement, Mariano said he put up the $45,000
down payment and retained 51 percent ownership of the newly
formed company. Ownership of the land transferred to the
company, Sunset Phase 4 LLC, in March of this year.
Mariano said then the land would be developed as a
condominium complex of a five-story building, containing up
to 88 units, atop a two-story parking deck.
The initial investors were:: Rod Kielty of R.J. Kielty
Plumbing; physician Krishna Ravi; William Woodard, president
of Coastal Aluminum; engineer Elie Araj, president of
Applied Sciences Consulting, and Girouard.
State records indicate Araj is no longer a corporate officer
of Sunset Phase 4. One of the replacements is Mariano’s
father, John V. Mariano Sr., records show. The company’s
status is listed as inactive, according to state records,
for failure to file an annual report in 2020.