For Immediate Release
June 2, 2025

HIALEAH, Fla. – The Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) arrested former Hialeah Police Chief Sergio Velazquez, 61, on one count each of structuring transactions to evade reporting or registration requirements, organized fraud and grand theft, all first-degree felonies. Velazquez was police chief for the City of Hialeah Police Department from 2012 until 2021.

“Officers of the law are held to a higher standard of character and integrity. They are expected to uphold the trust that the public has placed in them. This case revealed that Velazquez violated the trust and integrity expected of him as police chief,” said FDLE Miami Special Agent in Charge John Vecchio. “Our agents and analysts worked diligently on this case, which required in-depth analysis. That excellence in casework is why FDLE is trusted to investigate public officials.”

“When any serving police officer violates the law, he betrays the community whom he was sworn to serve,” said State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle.  “But when a police chief is alleged to have stolen from the city and department he has led, this unique betrayal deeply damages the very soul of the community.  I congratulate the FDLE agents and analysts, who working together with my Public Corruption prosecutors on this complex investigation, have worked to bring this matter before our criminal courts.”

The investigation began in November 2021 when FDLE agents received information from officials with the Hialeah Police Department about possible misplaced department funds.

The investigation revealed that between May 2021 and Oct. 2021, approximately $560,000 in Hialeah Police Department “petty cash” and seized currency had disappeared. FDLE agents and analysts examined bank accounts controlled by Velazquez and determined that 62 cash deposits were made, totaling more than $140,000. The agents noted that out of the 62 deposits, not a single deposit over $10,000 was made into any of the accounts that were reviewed.

The pattern of deposits to multiple Velazquez-controlled accounts indicated to agents that he was knowingly avoiding the deposit reporting requirement. All cash deposit activity stopped once Velazquez was relieved of duty as police chief.

Velazquez was arrested on June 2 and transported to the Turner Guilford Knight Detention Center. The Office of the State Attorney, 11th Judicial Circuit, is prosecuting the case.

The investigation remains active.

For Further Information Contact:
FDLE Office of Public Information
Info@fdle.state.fl.us