Facing legal woes, Miami Commissioner Joe Carollo reports negative $64 million net worth
Miami City Commissioner Joe Carollo is $63.9 million in the red.
That’s according to a financial disclosure form Carollo submitted last week detailing his assets and liabilities as of Dec. 31. It reflects a more than $66 million decrease from the $2.3 million net worth he reported last year.
The disclosure paints a grim financial picture for the commissioner as he fights to protect his Coconut Grove home from seizure to satisfy a portion of a multimillion-dollar judgment he owes after losing a civil lawsuit to Little Havana businessmen Bill Fuller and Martin Pinilla, and as he faces the possibility of further litigation, with multiple related lawsuits remaining unresolved. Meanwhile, the city’s insurance company is arguing in federal court that it is not responsible for millions in Carollo’s legal fees.
“It is what it is,” Carollo said of his net worth when reached by phone Tuesday. “At this point in time I have a judgment, and that’s what you’re supposed to disclose.”
Last year, a jury found that Fuller and Pinilla were victims of a political retaliation campaign pushed by Carollo, awarding the businessmen a $63.5 million judgment in the first of those lawsuits. A judge also ordered Carollo to pay $2.7 million in attorneys’ fees and costs.
All told, the combined $66.2 million owed as a result of the lawsuit is now the single largest liability for the commissioner. The only other liability he listed is the nearly $265,000 he owes on his mortgage for the Coconut Grove house.
To collect on the judgment, Fuller and Pinilla’s legal team, led by attorney Jeff Gutchess, are engaged in an ongoing battle to seize Carollo’s home, which he valued at $2.5 million.
“These individuals have instigated lawsuits like no one has in the history of the city of Miami,” Carollo said of his legal adversaries. “This is all about money. This is not about anything else.”
The city has been covering Carollo’s legal fees in the Fuller and Pinilla lawsuits, as well as the ongoing federal civil lawsuit filed by former Miami Police Chief Art Acevedo, who accused Carollo, the city manager and two other commissioners in 2022 of violating his First Amendment rights and illegally retaliating against him for “speaking out against corruption and abuse of power by the City of Miami Commission.”
The city’s general policy has been to represent elected officials when they are sued in their official capacity. But the matter was complicated in May when a city insurer, QBE Specialty Insurance, filed a lawsuit in federal court arguing that it cannot be held responsible for over $10 million in legal fees for Carollo’s defense in Fuller- and Pinilla-related lawsuits dating back to 2018, citing allegations that Carollo engaged in “deliberate, willful conduct that was intended to deprive plaintiffs of their property and harm plaintiffs’ reputations to punish and retaliate.” The lawsuit is ongoing.
As a city commissioner, Carollo earns a salary of $58,200 a year, according to a city spokeswoman.
Based on Carollo’s financial disclosure forms, he would not be able to pay for legal fees out of pocket. In his most recent disclosure, Carollo reported that he has less than $2,500 in his checking account — a decrease from the $45,431 he reported in the checking account last year. Carollo told the Herald the money was spent on various expenses, including living expenses.
In the previous financial disclosure form from 2022, which reflected Carollo’s finances through the end of 2021, he reported about $100,000 in the checking account. He reported nearly $121,300 in the account at the end of 2020, over $11,700 at the end of 2019 and under $7,000 at the end of 2018.
Carollo reported a net worth of $1.76 million in his disclosure for 2019, $1.87 million in 2020, $2.36 million in 2021 and $2.35 million in 2022. During that time, he reported that the property value of his Coconut Grove home increased from $2 million to $2.5 million.
Besides his checking account and his home, Carollo’s other major asset is his retirement plan, which is currently worth about $46,430, according to the latest disclosure.
Miami Herald associate editor Joey Flechas contributed reporting.
