South FL Developer Hired Men To Kill Estranged Wife: FBI

CORAL GABLES, FL — South Florida developer Sergio Pino — who was embroiled for two years in divorce proceedings with his wife, Tatiana Pino — took his own life when FBI officials descended on his home to charge him with hiring two crews to kill his wife, authorities said Wednesday.

The FBI raided Sergio Pino’s Coral Gables home Tuesday to arrest him, but Pino took his own life, law enforcement officials said Wednesday.

FBI officials said during a news conference that the agency became aware of the threats in the fall of 2023.

Nine people have been arrested in the plots to kill Tatiana Pino, officials said, according to a WFLA report. One crew reportedly tried to shoot Tatiana in June before the next court hearing in the divorce case. The suspects were offered a $150,000 bonus if the murder could not be connected to Sergio Pino, the FBI said.

“He decided he was going to kill his wife,” said U.S. Attorney Markenzy Lapointe at a news conference Wednesday, citing an attempted poisoning with fentanyl, stalking and a botched attempt to injure (Tatiana Pino) with a rented flatbed truck as she drove home from a divorce court hearing in August 2023.

In June 2024 “hitmen” who were paid $300,000 followed Tatiana home, where one armed man chased the car she was driving, but was unsuccessful because Tatiana made it into her home, Lapointe said, according to an NBC Miami story.

Pino was the founder of Century Homebuilders Group, which claims to be “one of the largest Hispanic Homebuilders in the nation.”

FBI agents, along with local police officers, were seen by WPLG reporters outside the developer’s mansion on Isla Dorada Boulevard in the exclusive Cocoplum neighborhood. Sergio Pino, 67, was found dead “from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound” in an upstairs bedroom, officials said.

"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. Today's events mark a very tragic ending to an investigation that we were confident we could successfully defend. There were many rumors and allegations but what was lacking was evidence," his attorney, Sam Rabin, said in a statement.