Seminole: Consultants need to show proof of their work

A one-time model tied to Congressman Matt Gaetz, a Longwood city commissioner, a former Orlando Sentinel columnist, and a Republican consultant whose only duties appeared to be delivering birthday cakes to the office’s employees.

These are among seven individuals paid a total of $223,630 in taxpayer dollars by disgraced Seminole Tax Collector Joel Greenberg — many of them his friends and associates — to work as public relations consultants during his tenure. Now county officials want to see proof of what they actually did to receive the public funds.

Last January, County Attorney Kate Latorre sent out stern letters to the seven consultants and their organizations asking them to document what they did to earn taxpayer dollars while Greenberg was in office from January 2017 until he resigned in June 2020.

Latorre also warned them that the county would pursue “legal action, such as filing a formal lawsuit” if they failed to show the actual work that was done.

“I sincerely hope that it does not come to that,” Latorre said in her letters.

One of those who responded by the county attorney’s deadline of Monday was former Sentinel sports columnist George Diaz, who provided articles and other work he produced for Greenberg during a five-month period in 2019. He was paid $7,500 to help improve the office’s image.

“Of course, I would have never signed up to work with him had I known the level of dishonesty and disgusting things he was up to,” Diaz said in his letter to the county. “I will gladly provide anything else you request if it helps clear this matter up and allows me to say good riddance to this period of my life.”

During his time in office, Greenberg — who is now serving an 11-year prison sentence — dished out more than $2 million in public money mostly to friends and associates to serve as consultants and garner him better public relations. Greenberg later repaid $1.3 million of that, and the county, through interviews and audits, satisfied itself that some other recipients could justify the payments.

But as of early January, Seminole officials were left with seven individuals they believed may have had “no work” contracts — and set about to recover the money.

As of this week, four of the seven individuals Seminole is pursuing — including Diaz — responded to the County Attorney’s office within Latorre’s 60-day deadline.

Latorre said in an email Tuesday that her office is still evaluating the county’s next steps, regarding both those who responded and those who didn’t. Any decision on whether to file legal action would have to be approved by county commissioners.

Those who did not respond include:

Community Cultural Consulting, run by Greenberg’s friend Nabil Dajani, which was paid $12,000 between January and June of 2019 with the Tax Collector’s Office credit card, according to county records. A source told the Sentinel that Greenberg hired the company to smooth over relations with Seminole’s Muslim community after he faced backlash following several derogatory remarks about Islam he posted on social media.

The Tax Collector’s Office was the company’s only client. Dajani is serving a 6-year-prison sentence after pleading guilty to charges related to sex trafficking and fraudulently obtaining hundreds of thousands of dollars in coronavirus relief funds for Greenberg.

MAGA Advisory Group, created by Republican consultant Leslie A. Key, which was paid $29,000. Staff at the Tax Collector’s Office told county auditors they were “unaware of what this group did,” according to a county report. However, one employee said Key was in charge of delivering birthday cakes to the office. Key’s son said Monday his mother is not up to answering questions because of a chronic and debilitating medical condition.

MZ Strategy Group, set up by Megan Zalonka, who was a former model and director of communications for the American Medical Marijuana Physicians Association. Her company was paid $3,500 in January 2018 with the Tax Collector’s Office credit card to help Greenberg with social media marketing and other communications. But office employees told county auditors they never saw her and weren’t sure exactly what she did.

Now a Sorrento resident, Zalonka has been linked to Gaetz, and recently cooperated with a House Ethics Committee investigation into whether the Republican congressman from Florida’s Panhandle had sex with an underage girl, according to a source. Zalonka did not return calls for comment.

The four entities that answered the county’s demand and produced documentation include:

Ballard Partners, a Tallahassee lobbying firm, paid by the Tax Collector’s Office $87,770 from March 2017 through April 2018. Greenberg’s then-friend, former state legislator Chris Dorworth, who worked for Ballard at the time, represented the office. Greenberg told the Sentinel at the time that he hired Ballard “to change laws that are out of date or just stupid.”

Blueprint Enterprises, started by Longwood Commissioner Matt Morgan, which was paid $40,500 from October 2019 through July 2020. Morgan, a former professional wrestler known as “The Blueprint” handed over documents that showed him establishing promotional displays at branch offices. He also promoted the Tax Collector’s Office on social media accounts.

Samuel Armes and his company, Three Gates LLC, who were hired by Greenberg in January 2020 to serve as the Tax Collector’s Office advocate for blockchain technology and a legislative affairs director. Armes was paid $43,360, but left after eight months. He turned over to the county documents and videos showing his work.

Seminole Commission Chair Jay Zembower said the county is trying to do right by its residents.

“If the citizens of Seminole County were defrauded, then we have an obligation to do whatever we can to protect them and recover any taxpayer dollars that we can recover,” he said. “We’re just trying to wrap this whole thing up and give closure to the taxpayers and move on.”

Greenberg