TALLAHASSEE — The more than $700,000 a New Orleans developer who was once involved in one of his state’s biggest bribery scandals invested in Florida political campaigns seemed to pay off last month when Gov. Ron DeSantis and the cabinet decided to buy a four-acre parcel from him for $83 million .

The developer’s campaign donations went to DeSantis, Attorney General James Uthmeier and possibly to CFO Blaise Ingoglia, funneled through a political committee run by a former DeSantis campaign advisor. Uthmeier and Ingoglia are both cabinet members.

The governor and Cabinet voted unanimously on Sept. 30 to buy the empty, sandy lot on a peninsula off the coast of Destin for an almost unheard-of price of $20 million an acre. Officials said the purchase was necessary to save the land from a co

See Full Page