By Patrick Reilly | New York Post
A Miami real estate mogul accused of poisoning his wife with fentanyl was found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound in his lavish mansion Tuesday during an FBI raid connected to a continuing probe into a murder-for-hire plot to kill her.
A SWAT team discovered the body of Sergio Pino, 67, in an upstairs bedroom at his multimillion-dollar home in a swanky gated Coral Gables community Tuesday morning as it was picking up electronics, safes and three boxes of documents, police sources told WPLG.
The developer allegedly poisoned Tatiana Pino, his estranged wife of 32 years, multiple times with fentanyl, she claimed during their divorce proceedings — and was under investigation for paying people to try to have her killed.
Pino’s lawyer, Sam Rabin, confirmed that he died by suicide and criticized law enforcement’s handling of the situation.
“Sergio Pino took his own life today. The level of law enforcement activity at his residence was unprecedented and unnecessary, especially since we had offered to surrender him should that have become necessary,” he told WPLG.
“Today’s events mark a very tragic ending to an investigation that we were confident we could successfully defend,” Rabin continued.
“There were many rumors and allegations but what was lacking was evidence.”
Tatiana claimed she suffered breathing issues and other symptoms in 2022, and that a doctor at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore allegedly detected fentanyl in her system after she was intubated six times.
She believes her husband was secretly slipping her the deadly opioid. Tatiana suggested Sergio, the founder of Century Homebuilders Group, had “a financial motive” to poison her.
She filed for divorce in April 2022.
Last month, the FBI raided Pino’s Cocoplum estate and Coral Gables office as part of an investigation over threats made against Tatiana’s life.
Pino allegedly recruited a part-time worker on his yacht, Bayron Bennett, to hire three men to threaten his wife after she filed for a divorce, sources familiar with the case told the Miami Herald.
Bennet and the three men have been charged in Miami federal court for an attempted hit-and-run at her Pinecrest home and for an arson attack against three of her sister’s vehicles.
Security footage shows Tatiana pulling into her driveway in August 2023 as a rented Home Depot flatbed truck parked nearby whips around from behind and slams into the passenger side of her SUV before driving off, WPLG reported.
Pino was never charged with any crime before his death.
“In this already complex divorce, we have had to address the terrorism and the attacks on Tatiana’s life. It is truly terrible,” Tatiana Pino’s attorney, Raymond J. Rafool, told the outlet on Tuesday.
“Thankfully, the FBI is involved and working hard to keep Tatiana safe and bringing those responsible to justice
Pino’s divorce attorney Deanna Shifrin said in a statement that there was “nothing to indicate that he ever harmed or wanted to harm” his wife.
“I do believe that the combination of unnecessarily destructive divorce litigation along with selective and salacious media coverage was humiliating to him and led to this tragedy,” she said.
