Caesar DePaço

DePaço was born in Madalena do Pico, Azores on September 21, 1965.[9]

His father was the head of an Azorean finance department and, according to DePaço, his entire childhood was spent in the Azores until he was 11 years old, when he visited the United States, to which he later emigrated in 1994.[5][12]

He currently lives with his wife, Deanna Padovani-DePaço, in New Jersey where he founded Summit Nutritionals International and where he is known for several philanthropic activities, namely associated to the support of security forces of several US states.[13][14][15]

According to the Portuguese newspaper Expresso, DePaço has a degree in psychology and two doctorates. He was also a professor of psychology in Bangkok, Thailand, for four years.[16]

On 3 October 2014, DePaço was appointed as Honorary Consul of the Portuguese Republic in Florida, based out of the city of Palm Coast, an invitation which surprised him.[17][18][5] At the time, this was the only Honorary Consulate, with full powers other than the granting of visas, besides another one in Connecticut.[5] In his position as honorary consul, he used to see more than 30 people a day and was described as a discreet man, known for having declined state aid from Portugal for the Consulate, as he fully paid for the Consulate's expenses, which amounted to half a million dollars a year.[5] In 2017, DePaço organized the first-ever raising of the Portuguese flag at a government building in Florida, at the Palm Coast City Hall.[19]

DePaço was a finalist for the New Jersey Corporate Citizen of the Year award in 2014, for his and his company's dedication to philanthropic works, particularly those in regards to supporting local law enforcement.[20]

In 2020, DePaço became a member of the advisory board for the Portuguese Criminology Association.[21]

In May 2020, DePaço resigned from his position as Honorary Consul, citing irreconcilable differences with the Portuguese Ambassador to the United States, Domingos Fezas Vital, on matters concerning Portuguese national interest and foreign policy, stating that "I leave because I cannot compromise my principles and I will not overlook unacceptable conduct.".[22]

On 11 January 2021, Portuguese news channel SIC Notícias broadcast a story asserting that DePaço had donated over ten thousand euros to Portugal's Chega party, and highlighted connections of several of its leaders to the DePaço Foundation.[23][24][25] This was controversial in Cape Verde due to Chega's opposition to immigration.[26][27] The day after the SIC story was aired, Cape Verdean Foreign Minister, who had recently appointed DePaço as Honorary Consul of Cape Verde to Florida, resigned.[28][29] DePaço was subsequently dismissed,[30] At the time he was appointed, Cape Verde already had a consul in Florida.[31]

His wife, Deanna Padovani-DePaço, remains as honorary consul of Cape Verde to New Jersey.[32] In an article in January 2021, newspaper "A Nação" questioned the case of a husband and wife being both appointed to as consuls, writing "This is the first time Cape Verde has ever nominated a couple, husband and wife, to consulates in the same country, at once, to different states in the U.S.A".[32]

In late January 2021, DePaço's attorney Rui Barreira told Macao newspaper Ponto Final that DePaço was not dismissed from his position, but resigned on his own initiative on 12 January in order to avoid becoming a subject of controversy in Cabo Verde.[33] Barreira asserted that DePaço paid for the consular activities out of his own pocket.[33] He also said that DePaço's Wikipedia biographies had been the target of malicious editing.[33]

In June 2021, Portuguese-American newspaper LusoAmericano reported that DePaço was suing media outlets Sábado magazine, CMTV and SIC for what he called "attacks on his honour and image, due to the imputation of false facts," specifically that he is the "main financier of Chega," alleging that this claim had come to overshadow his career in international business in the minds of the Portuguese public.[34] DePaço said that he was never a financier of Chega, having made only one donation to the party within legal limits and otherwise uninvolved either as an activist or a party member.[34] He also filed criminal complaints against Cofina, which owns Sábado and CMTV, Cofina director Eduardo Dâmaso and journalist Alexandre Malhado as well as SIC information directors Ricardo Costa and Marta Reis and journalist Pedro Coelho.[34]

DePaço sued Wikipedia and editors.[35][36] The Wikimedia Foundation characterized this as a strategic lawsuit against public participation.[37]

DePaço has been recognized, primarily across the United States, but also in Europe, for his philanthropic work involving law enforcement in the United States, Portugal, and France.[5][38][39][40][41] His work has primarily centered around sponsoring or donating K-9 dogs to local police forces across the United States and Europe, including the Guarda Nacional Republicana of Portugal and the Police Nationale of France.[42][43][44] Following the November 2015 Paris terrorist attacks, DePaço donated a dog to the French National Police.[45][46][47]

He has been made an honorary police officer by the Daytona Beach Police Department, Point Pleasant Beach PD, Linwood PD, DeLand PD, Beachwood PD, and Holmdel Township PD, primarily for his work in support of police forces across the United States.[48] DePaço has also been made honorary chief of police of Hillsborough Township PD, police commissioner of Peapack-Gladstone, New Jersey, deputy sheriff of Bristol County, Massachusetts, as well as an honorary deputy of the sheriff's offices of Flagler County, Florida and Morris County, New Jersey, honorary detective of the Mercer County, New Jersey prosecutor's office and honorary colonel of the Brigham City police department in Utah.[49] In 2021, he was appointed as an honorary sheriff with Somerset County Sheriff’s office.[50]

In July 2018, the Municipality of Madalena bestowed its golden key to DePaço, in recognition of his philanthropic work and for his contributions to the Azorean community.[51][52]

In Portugal, he has donated money (16 000 €) to firefighters who were combating fires in a tank-truck without brakes.[5] For Christmas, he has donated to "Obra Social Madre Maria Clara" (Social Work Mother Maria Clara), a charity that welcomes institutionalized children.[5] DePaço is also known for having paid for the expenses of surgeries or treatments of children with cancer or autism.[5]

• Official website
• Official Twitter
• Personal website