Hialeah Mayor Carlos Hernandez, testifying under oath Wednesday in the tax-evasion trial of his predecessor, acknowledged that he too had taken part in the city’s “shadow” banking business that charged astronomical interest rates on loans. That under-the-radar industry has put former Hialeah Mayor Julio Robaina in the cross-hairs of federal prosecutors. They have charged him and his wife with hiding some $2 million in income to avoid paying taxes — including secret cash payments from 36 percent interest charged on $750,000 in loans made to a convicted Ponzi schemer. Hernandez doesn’t face any charges himself, but under questioning, he admitted he collected the same inflated interest on $180,000 in loans he made to con man Luis Felipe Perez — contradicting denials he …
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