Daniel Figueroa IV
An investigation by the Florida Commission on Ethics confirmed reported errors on two of Rep. Jackie Toledo’s recent financial disclosure forms.
According to an investigative report, the Tampa Republican and District 60 representative admitted two errors — one each on her 2017 and 2018 “Full and Public Disclosure of Financial Interests” Form 6. Toledo in 2017 failed to disclose profits from the sale of a Tampa home. And in 2018, she said she submitted Form 6 with an attached asset list, but no such list was attached. The State dropped a third accusation claiming a company Toledo reported income from did not exist.
Elizabeth Miller was the Ethics Commission’s prosecutor on the case. Miller said since Toledo is a sitting representative the case will go to House Speaker Chris Sprowls for further investigation and potential action.
“The case goes, the stipulation along with investigation, goes over to the appropriate chamber where either Speaker or President will assign to appropriate committee for further investigation and to resolve with a penalty,” Miller said.
Miller said no penalty was attached to her recommendation since Toledo is a sitting member of the House. But, she added, the investigating committee might look to the Commission for a recommended penalty. For now, though, the case is out of the hands of the Ethics Commission.
Tallahassee attorney Max Solomon filed the complaint on Oct. 5, 2020.
“Rather than submitting her income tax returns, Rep. Toledo has filed an annual financial disclosure form every year since her first run for the State House of Representatives in 2016,” Solomon wrote. “On each of these forms, she has appeared to omit information.”
Solomon accused Toledo of falsifying income information on her 2019 form. He said a search of the State’s Division of Corporations website found no business called Florida Engineering and Consulting. But Toledo’s form listed that company as a source of $10,000 in income. It also listed it as her home address.
Investigator Robert Malone found the company listed with the Division of Corporations as a fictitious name, with Toledo as the registered officer. The state determined her 2019 form was accurate.
Solomon also said Toledo left out a list of assets on her 2018 form. Toledo told Malone the attachment was there when she filed the form, but couldn’t remember if she had mailed it in or hand delivered it. Miller found that to be a violation, even if Toledo had intended to submit the form, because it was not there.
In 2017, Toledo sold a Tampa house co-owned with her then-husband for $540,000. They purchased it in 2007 for $405,000, according to the Hillsborough County Property Appraiser. Toledo told Malone she was going through a divorce at the time and it took a while to determine how much of the sale’s profits were hers. Once she did, she said amending her 2017 form slipped her mind.
Miller found that, too, to be a violation.
“Intent is not an element of this investigation,” Miller wrote in a report to the Commission. “Thus Respondent (Toledo) is legally responsible for the consequences flowing from her failure to file an accurate disclosure form.”
Those consequences will now be determined by the Florida House.
Toledo in August filed amended and corrected versions of both her 2017 and 2018 financial disclosures.
