Former banking regulator accuses CFO Patronis of influencing investigations, policy
TALLAHASSEE -- Florida Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis pressured an agency to drop its involvement in a case against a Miami financial adviser after that adviser gave his campaign $25,000, according to the state’s former top banking regulator.
Drew Breakspear, who served as the state’s Commissioner of Financial Regulation from 2012 until he was forced out by Patronis in 2018, said his former boss’ intervention on behalf of a donor was just one example of a workplace with conflicts of interest.
Breakspear told the Herald/Times during a recent exclusive interview that he and his staff were sometimes told to back off.
“I got to the point of saying, ‘I’ve got better things to do with my life than work for a poor manager whose integrity I did not trust,’ ” Breakspear said, referring to Patronis. “I think the meddling should not happen.”
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