Kate CiminiFort Myers News-Press
A candidate for Lee County Sheriff filed an ethics complaint against Sheriff Carmine Marceno Tuesday, claiming Marceno knowingly failed to disclose to the state a cash purchase of more than a half-million dollars of a Sarasota condo.
While Marceno did appear to leave the purchase off his 2024 state financial disclosure, per reporting guidelines, Marceno was not required to include the condo on said statement as he purchased it after 2023.
Marceno dated his net worth to Dec. 31, 2023, in accordance with the instructions laid out for the state's financial disclosure form. He placed his real property's net worth at $900,000 –– five months prior to his purchase of the Sarasota condo.
At the time, Marceno reported approximately $317,000 in cash in two bank accounts.
Write-in candidate Mike Hollow said he didn't notice that date Marceno pegged his net worth to before he filed his complaint with the Florida ethics commission.
Still, Hollow, a 17-year law enforcement veteran and former Internal Affairs commander with the Lee County Sheriff's Office, called the omission concerning, noting that Marceno did not declare enough in cash in his 2024 financial disclosure form to close on a $600,000 condo a mere five months later.
"If he's all about transparency, where's the transparency?" Hollow asked. "Yes, he got a considerable amount of money through gambling ... but he did not have the cash on hand to purchase a $600,000 condo. Where did this money come from?"
Hollow called for a forensic audit of Marceno's finances and the Lee County Sheriff's Office.
This ethics complaint comes just days after Hollow alleged Marceno was under FBI investigation for money laundering and acceptance of extravagant gifts –– such as payments on a luxury car, a piano and a $45,000 ring Marceno reportedly gave to his grandmother.
Sheriff's Office Public Information Officer Anita Iriarte directed questions to Marceno's campaign manager, who did not respond by publication. However, in a statement published late Monday, Marceno called the allegations of money laundering "politically-motivated" and "baseless."
"It’s unfortunate that politics have reached this level," Marceno said in a statement to The News-Press / Naples Daily News. "It’s sad that some people would engage in such vicious personal attacks for political purposes."
$600,000 cash for a Sarasota condo
Marceno is, by Florida Statutes, required to disclose all financial assets and debts over $1,000 annually to the Florida Commission on Ethics.
The News-Press / Naples Daily News confirmed Marceno's purchase of the Sarasota condominium via public records. While the owner is listed as confidential of the 1500 State Street property, the address of the owner is Marceno's private Fort Myers residence, according to the Sarasota Property Appraiser's website.
Marceno paid cash for the property; no mortgage is recorded, according to the Sarasota Clerk of Courts records site.
"Based on his proven track record of circumventing legal and ethical practices to benefit himself over his constituents, I will say with confidence that Marceno's underreporting of his 'residential' assets was intentional," Hollow wrote in his complaint.
A copy of a MLS property detail report provided by Hollow shows Marceno's name and Fort Myers address as the current owner.
The condo, built in 2017, is a 733 square-foot one-bedroom, one-bath and has a $716 monthly HOA fee attached to it. Per Realtor.com, Redfin and Zilllow, the property sold for $600,000 on May 24, 2024. That amounted to roughly $819 a square foot, roughly $15,000 over its estimated value at the time, depending on which website you search.
The deed and tax bill have been redacted per owner request, but taxes on the condo in 2023 amounted to over $6,000 a year, public records show.
Per the MLS report, the condo is not owner-occupied.
The condo sale date is six days before the date that Marceno turned in his Form 6 to the Florida Commission on Ethics, a state financial disclosure all elected or appointed officials must file annually with the aforementioned agency.
According to his 2024 Form 6, Marceno owned $900,000 in property on Dec. 31, 2023. Marceno's Lee County home in Reflection Isles is valued at roughly $700,000, according to realty sites Realtor.com, Redfin and Zillow.
Reporting requirements for Form 6 say elected officials must turn them in by July 1; they must date their net worth either to Dec. 31 of the previous year or to a more current date. They must state the date their net worth is calculated.
It is not clear how many properties Marceno owns in Lee or Collier counties, nor what their purpose is; the property assessor's rolls do not list Marceno's property details online, per his request. Marceno has never listed the addresses of the properties he owned on his financial disclosure forms.
$900,000 in real property
Marceno's financial disclosures to the state show a regular gambling habit documented over several years, as well as a climbing value of real property.
In 2019, Marceno’s Form 6, a financial disclosure form filed with the State Ethics Commission, indicated that when he was first elected he had a net worth of $226,000. Any real property he owned at the time was valued at $475,000, he reported. He listed his income as sheriff as $170,000.
By 2022, his net worth had jumped to $500,000, and he listed the value of his real estate property or properties at $700,000. While his income as sheriff had not increased, that year, he listed $290,183 in gambling income, won at Seminole Gaming in Hollywood, Florida. Over that year and the following two, Marceno recorded $485,909 in gambling earnings.
The following year, Marceno delcared his real property value to be $800,000. In 2024, that number climbed to $900,000.
In 2023, Marceno was given a raise to $185,000, he reported on his Form 6. The following year, he reported a $32,000 pay raise as sheriff, going from an annual salary of $185,000 to $227,170.
An FBI investigation?
Thursday, nonprofit news outlet Florida Trident broke the news that Marceno had allegedly laundered money through former honorary deputy Ken Romano, and was under investigation by the FBI.
In a recording provided to The News-Press / Naples Daily News by Hollow, Romano told Hollow that Marceno owes him hundreds of thousands of dollars for gifts of jewelry, a piano, and for repayment of gambling debts.
Hollow said he met with the FBI and U.S. Assistant Attorney on May 21 to disclose his findings.
Hollow said Romano was aware of his intent to record the conversation and give it to authorities including the FBI and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
The FBI declined to confirm or deny the existence of an investigation.
Romano, a Fort Myers jeweler, said in the recording that Marceno hired him on as a consultant to the department after appointing him honorary deputy. Marceno paid him $4,000 a month for no work for about six months in 2022, he said.
Shortly into Romano's tenure, however, he said Marceno purchased a Ferrari for himself, which state documents show Marceno still owns. That same day, Marceno told Romano he wanted to purchase a nice car for his father, Carmine Marceno Sr., so he could drive himself to medical appointments, per the call.
So, he told an undersheriff to give Romano a “raise” for $1,700 a month, Romano said. Romano paid the raise in cash, monthly, to the sheriff’s father, he said.
That amount, Romano said, was the amount of the monthly car payments for a Mercedes-Benz S Class, plus insurance.
Romano is cooperating with an FBI investigation into the claims, according to Hollow.
Marceno denies the claims made by both Hollow and Romano.
Kate Ciminiis the Florida Investigative Reporter for the USA TODAY-Network Florida, based at The News-Press and The Naples Daily News. Contact her at 239-207-9369 or kcimini@news-press.com.