Two former employees of a Miami nonprofit that oversees two downtown parks have filed a federal whistleblower lawsuit against Commissioner Joe Carollo, accusing him of funneling public funds to political allies and shielding improper accounting practices

Jose Suarez, former executive director of the Bayfront Park Management Trust, and Jose Canto, the trust’s former director of finance, filed the lawsuit on Jan. 21 in the Southern District of Florida. The defendants are Carollo, the chairman of the trust’s Board of Trustees; the trust itself; and trustee and accountant Javier Banos.

“Carollo and Banos both threatened and then set out to undermine and force the departures of Suarez and Canto after Suarez and Canto began questioning the trust’s lack of proper accounting practices and procedures …” the lawsuit states.