A prominent Miami developer was arrested last month for allegedly skimming official funds to buy himself a 150,000-dollar sculpture of a giant watermelon slice.

Raul Masvidal turned himself in to authorities after he was charged with organized fraud and grand theft.

Masvidal had obtained millions of dollars from the Miami-Dade county to build new offices for the Housing Agency, but used part of the money to buy the sculpture by artist Julio Larraz, according to an affidavit filed in court.

The sculpture, called “Mars”, portrays a huge watermelon slice that has been bitten.

To hide the purchase, he allegedly asked an art broker to write a fake invoice that listed only a sculpture of stacked cups that was to grace the new building, but charged for both artworks.

The Cuban-born Masvidal had gained prominence in Miami as a political advisor, philanthropist and businessman.

“What a great disappointment,” said State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle. “He turned on his community. He turned on his friends.

Real estate brokers in New York say that New York renters need their space just so, even if it mean making some pretty strange requests. Heres a few good ones that brokers have had to deal with:

• “One buyer asked for a large terrace for a pot bellied pig. The buyer, a prominent attorney, had married a cute young woman from the Midwest who came to the marriage with cats, dogs, a ferret, tortoise, and pot belly pig. They obviously needed a huge outdoor space for the menagerie. The building they found on the Upper East Side wouldn’t let the pot belly pig in. So they had a veterinarian sedate it, rolled it up in a rug, and smuggled it in.”
• “One of our clients had a phobia with the number four. None of the apartments could be on the fourth floor or be on 84th Street or any other street with the number four.”
• “A few months ago a client was looking for apartment that had to be close enough to a Starbucks. I kid you not.”
• “Years ago I had a gay couple that wanted a loft space that had to have concrete floors with, hopefully, a floor drain. When I asked why they would want a floor drain, they informed me that they hosted invitation-only sex parties that would be attended by 40-50 men, three to four times a week. They intended to cover the floors and walls with latex and wanted the drain so they could hose down the space after the party! I was not successful in finding them their dream house.”
• “A recent college graduate who just moved to the city was looking for a $1,000-per-month studio in midtown. I just had to laugh because no such place exists.”
• “A single woman in her mid-50’s was looking to rent an apartment only on an odd-numbered floor because every time she had lived on an even floor, one of her pets died.”
• “One guy was looking for a ground floor apartment with a basement that he could turn into a dungeon.”

Are any of my readers Real Estate Brokers? What kinds of strange requests have you heard?