Crime
Cuban American businessman and staunch Castro opponent found dead by apparent suicide
After the raid on his Coral Gables home, the FBI confirmed the death of the real estate magnate and developer
July 16, 2024 5:06pm
Updated: July 17, 2024 9:17am
Prominent South Florida businessman Sergio Pino was found dead following an FBI raid on his home in Coral Gables on Tuesday morning. The first hypotheses suggest that the Cuban-born magnate took his own life.
The body was removed by the authorities from the house of the prominent Miami-Dade home builder in the middle of an investigation in which Pino was involved, as confirmed to local NBC affiliate 6 South Florida by his lawyer Sam Rabin and aerial images of the scene.
The FBI was carrying out a search and arrest operation at the businessman's home, valued at 8 million dollars, located at 142 Isla Dorada Blvd.
“Upon arrival, members of the FBI Miami SWAT team attempted to call the occupants of the residence. Upon receiving no response, the SWAT team entered the residence and conducted a methodical search to locate the subject. Ultimately, they found Mr. Pino alone in an upstairs bedroom,” the FBI said in a statement.
The agency said Pino died from an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound. The agents raised a large black tarp to hide the body, which was transferred on a stretcher from the house directly to the coroner's van, according to photographs circulating on the networks.
“The final determination regarding the cause of death will be made by the medical examiner's office,” the FBI said.
It was also confirmed that the ongoing investigation was related to a murder-for-hire case that began in the fall of 2023. Although the FBI did not provide further details, on August 30, 2023 Tatiana Pino, Sergio's ex-wife, was victim of a hit-and-run in front of her home in Pinecrest, when she was returning from a hearing in her divorce case with the Cuban millionaire.
The event is one of the criminal investigations that revolve around their separation.
Sergio and Tatiana Pino were married for 32 years, but she filed for divorce in April 2022. The accusations following the separation, which include allegations of poisoning, arson and harassment, are part of a federal investigation that has already revealed resulted in the arrest of four people, including a man Tatiana identified as someone who worked for the couple on their yacht.
Sergio Pino had not yet been charged with a crime, but the FBI confirmed that it searched the couple's home in the Cocoplum neighborhood and their business offices as part of the same case last June.
Pino ran a construction empire in Miami-Dade, largely under the auspices of Century Homebuilders Group, whose website claims it is the largest Hispanic-owned homebuilder in the country. In addition, he was for years the president of the powerful Latino Builders Association.
Following a financial filing cited in November 2023 in the marriage's divorce case, his combined net worth with Tatiana was estimated to be $359 million.
Sergio Pino was born in Havana, Cuba, in 1956 and came to the United States in 1969 with his family, at the age of 13. He was one of the powerful Cuban-American businessmen who maintained a strong stance against the Castro regime.
