CORAL GABLES, Fla. – It was a startling sunrise wake-up call on a quiet tree-lined street in Coral Gables Tuesday morning.
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Utilizing flash bangs, Miami-Dade County's Special Response Team moved in and arrested Jesus "Jay" Pons inside a home.
As he was taken away, a team of computer forensic specialists began executing a search warrant.
WATCH: Arrest video |
Pons used to work for Miami-Dade County's Internal Services Department and resigned from his Information Technology job last year, along with fellow employee Bruno Diaz, amidst a public corruption probe of New York-based tech company Data Industries. Police arrested Pons, Diaz, and another person in "Operation Bogus Billing."
Data Industries had secured several government contracts with the county worth millions of dollars, according to prosecutors. Working off a tip, investigators were looking into whether the company had been over-billing taxpayers or charging for services that were never performed.
"The thievery was occurring during the most difficult time in our community, when children services, elderly couldn't be fully funded or were cut back," said Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle.
Data Industries Vice President Paul Raifaisen is cooperating with prosecutors, they said.