A copy of a check issued by City of Miami, made out for $200,000 to Miami Police Chief Miguel Exposito, was obtained Tuesday by NBC Miami.
The Wachovia Bank check is dated Jan. 12. After requests by NBC Miami, the office of Miami's Director of Finance Diana Gomez released two versions of the check, one before it was voided and one after. It is signed by Gomez and another finance official.
Along with the check was a request for a direct payment document for $200,000 that was requested by Tony Crapp Jr., the former city manager.
The check seems to corroborate Exposito’s claim that city officials offered him $400,000 to leave earlier this year.
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City Commissioner Frank Carollo said Tuesday the payment offer could be seen as a crime.
"I think it potentially could," he said. "I don't know if it reached the level of bribing a public official, but the bottom line is that's why I asked this to be placed on the next agenda so we could have all the facts out."
City officials, including Mayor Tomas Regalado, have acknowledged that they were meeting to discuss a potential offer to Exposito in January, but Exposito rejected the offer.
The offer came just before a City Commission meeting where several commissioners asked Exposito to resign.
Exposito says he is not leaving, despite the city posting a job opening for his position on a city website last week.
"I'm not abandoning my position. I'm not leaving," Exposito said Friday.
Exposito and Regalado have been at odds for about a year over a plethora of issues and their war of words and wills has played out in a very public forum. Regalado handpicked Exposito for the job when he took over as mayor, but the relationship soon soured.
