A month after Coral Gables commissioners approved a nine-story apartment project, no update has emerged on their vote to investigate allegations that supporters lied under oath.

Coral Gables resident Tom Parker pressed the issue in a Sept. 23 letter published by the Coral Gables Gazette, arguing the City Commission, mayor and police chief have failed to pursue who may have organized the alleged fraud at hearings on the Crystal Residences development at 110 Phoenetia Ave.

"The issue is, who paid them? … The commission should be outraged and follow the money, urgently," Parker wrote.

The commission approved Crystal Residences 3-1 on Aug. 26 after opponents presented video clips and witness statements alleging multiple project supporters had given false Coral Gables addresses in sworn testimony at earlier hearings. Mayor Vince Lago, Vice Mayor Rhonda Anderson and Commissioner Richard Lara voted yes. Commissioner Melissa Castro voted no. Commissioner Ariel Fernandez was absent.

At the same meeting, commissioners voted 4-0 to refer the allegations for investigation. Lago moved to direct the city attorney and city manager to work through the Police Department to send the matter to outside agencies, naming the Miami-Dade State Attorney's Office, the ethics commission and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement as possible destinations.

Then they resumed voting and approved the remaining project items by the same margin.

Opponents say supporters gave false local addresses

Attorney David Winker, representing activist Bonnie Bolton and other opponents, laid out findings that traced back to resident Omar Packard. Packard grew suspicious after watching repeat speakers at commission meetings appear to read their own addresses from their phones, as first reported by WPLG Local 10.

Winker's presentation showed speakers giving Coral Gables addresses followed by videos of actual residents who said they did not know the speakers. At least one supporter gave different addresses at separate hearings. Some addresses did not exist or belonged to buildings where occupants said the speaker did not live.

Winker also questioned the claimed residence of Alexis Santos, a frequent project supporter who he said helped collect about 500 letters backing Crystal Residences.

No evidence presented at the hearing established who organized the speakers or whether developer Fifield Companies, its attorneys or others connected with the project knew of any alleged misrepresentations, the Coral Gables Gazette reported.

Police chief says prosecution is unlikely

Police Chief Ed Hudak, whom Castro called to the podium, was blunt. "Is that technically perjury? Yes," Hudak said, according to the Gazette's account of the hearing. "Is that something that would rise to the level of a prosecution? No. I don't believe it would."

Castro pushed back. "To stand before a commission, raise your hand, swear to tell the truth, and then provide false information, that is not public participation … That is a direct attack on the integrity of this process," she said, as quoted in the same account.

Lara, an attorney, said he did not condone deception but called the argument for delaying the vote "specious," saying the project had been evaluated on competent, substantial evidence assembled during five years of review.

Anderson said the allegations should be investigated but that the project had been thoroughly vetted and should be judged on its merits.

The Miami Herald reported Aug. 27 that Coral Gables police were investigating the allegations. Sarina Sorrentino, Fifield's vice president of development, told the Herald the company does not condone lying or misleading information.

The city issued a statement after the meeting saying commissioners had not voted to open a criminal investigation. The Police Department was directed to examine the claims and refer appropriate allegations to proper authorities.

No public word on outside agency referrals

As of Sept. 24, no public report has confirmed whether the Police Department has referred the matter to the State Attorney's Office, the state Department of Law Enforcement or the ethics commission. No investigation findings have been released.

Crystal Residences, proposed by Chicago-based Fifield Companies, calls for 184 residential units, 16 live-work units and a new 6,700-square-foot home for Crystal Academy, a nonprofit school serving children with autism, rent-free for 99 years.

The Gazette's editorial board noted that Winker served as registered agent for the committee that sought unsuccessfully to recall Lago in 2024 and has represented Castro in unrelated matters.