Miami director of The Florida Veterans Foundation Faces Charges

U.S. Marine known as Miami's veterans advocate arrested for grand theft
FDLE: Florida Veterans Foundation director stole $300K in donations
ABC 10 News
By Andrea Torres - Digital Reporter/Producer
January 31, 2018

MIAMI - A U.S. Marine who worked under former Miami Mayor Tomas Regalado was arrested Wednesday after he and a friend were accused of stealing $300,000 of donated items meant to help military veterans in need.

Antonio "Tony" Colmenares, a retired lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Marine Corps, served as Miami's director of veteran services under Regalado and volunteered as the Miami director of The Florida Veterans Foundation, a nonprofit that was meant to offer support to the Florida Department of Veterans' Affairs. 

When Colmenares organized an event to help homeless veterans, he received more than 27,000 blankets and 9,700 ready-to-eat emergency meals, according to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.

"These donated items should have gone to help feed and warm veterans struggling to get back on their feet — instead they were sold to fatten the pockets of those charged with preying on the good intentions of others," Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement.

Colmenares, 57, who helped to implement a Miami-Dade courts program focusing on military veterans in need of help, and his friend Antonio Sabatier, 60, were accused of selling donated items during 2014-2015 transactions and depositing the earnings to an account that was unrelated to the nonprofit.
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