MIAMI — Lubby Navarro is no lengthier a health care provider.
Miami-Dade Corrections Section
Experiencing an array of felony costs for allegedly stealing tens of countless numbers of bucks from Miami-Dade County Public Colleges, the previous faculty board member is also remaining stripped of her honorary doctorate.
“Sure, we are rescinding her doctorate,” Michael Fridovich, the chancellor of the Catholic College of New Spain, told CBS News Miami.
In September 2019, the Catholic College of New Spain, a for-revenue, non-public college positioned on the ninth floor of an workplace creating in downtown Miami, awarded Navarro an honorary doctorate of humane letters noting that she “is a terrific instance of the kind of Hispanic leaders who are building a variation in Florida and the environment.”
Following obtaining her honorary doctorate, Navarro insisted, in accordance to district sources, on becoming referred to throughout college board conferences as “Dr. Navarro” and had faculty district team modify all the indications, title plates and stationery so that it would now consist of her honorary title of medical professional.
In terms of Navarro’s true education and learning, she gained a bachelor’s degree in political science from Florida Global University.
Lubby Navarro accused of wrongdoing
Navarro was arrested Jan. 11, for allegedly using school district credit rating cards on particular objects for herself and her loved ones and mates. In all, investigators say they uncovered practically $100,000 in suspicious buys, like family holidays to the Dominican Republic and a vacation to Las Vegas with her then boyfriend.
“She siphoned away assets intended for the great of our kids,” Inspector General Felix Jimenez alleged throughout the press conference asserting her arrest.
Navarro has denied wrongdoing.
“You can find a ton a lot more to this case,” explained her lawyer, Ben Kuehne. “Ms. Navarro is not a general public servant but will be exonerated.”
The arrest warrant claims Navarro purchased two synthetic silicon and cotton padded being pregnant bellies from Amazon.
A single of the faux bellies simulates the first a few months of pregnancy and the 2nd that can be made use of for the later stages. Investigators claim she employed the faux bellies to trick her ex-boyfriend into believing she was expecting just after they had broken up. She also allegedly acquired two digital tracking products that detectives reportedly uncovered hidden in the wheel well and less than the front grill of her boyfriend’s vehicle.
“Oh, attractive,” Fridovich stated sarcastically after being educated of the rates. “Justification me for laughing, I know this is serious.”
He reported he did not know why Navarro was given the honorary diploma in 2019, introducing “thank goodness that was right before my time.”
A shorter time later on, Fridovich issued a a lot more formal assertion to CBS Information Miami, producing: “We are rescinding Ms. Navarro’s doctorate. The University does not condone this form of impropriety. We hold our honorary doctorate recipients to a greater common.”
Neither Navarro nor her lawyer responded to a ask for for comment on the school’s choice.
University board appointment
Navarro was appointed to the faculty board by then-Gov. Rick Scott in 2015 and received election to the board in 2016 and 2020.
She resigned in December 2022 right after a Constitutional amendment was approved protecting against elected officials from functioning as lobbyists. Navarro worked as a lobbyist for the South Broward Healthcare facility District, which has placed her on administrative leave next her arrest and declared they are conducting an internal review of her spending at the clinic district.
Navarro’s tenure on the school board was full of controversy.
In April 2022, throughout a discussion on recognizing a day of prayer at the college district, she said approving the measure would “send out a message to our neighborhood that we have one particular creator, a person creator, and that is God and Jesus Christ.”
The chairman of the university board later apologized to persons of other faiths who could have been offended by her remarks.
That exact same month, Navarro utilized her district credit card to get additional than $1,600 in reward cards, that investigators say she would use to hide other unauthorized buys.
Total, they declare she ordered much more than $40,000 in reward cards, that she both utilised herself or gave to relatives customers, a charge her attorney denies.
