South Florida’s biggest HOA’s leaders charged in massive fraudThe Real Deal South Florida

Five people were charged with running a massive fraud that allegedly looted more than $1 million from the coffers of South Florida’s biggest homeowners association.

The Miami-Dade State Attorneys’ Office on Tuesday arrested former and current board members of the Hammocks HOA for their alleged roles in the scheme. The arrests are a continuation of an investigation dating back to 2017 when Hammocks residents raised concerns about association reserve funds being depleted during the leadership of former board president Marglli Gallego, according to an arrest affidavit dated Nov. 9.

The Hammocks is a collection of 40 residential communities in southwest Miami-Dade County that includes over 6,500 single-family houses, apartments and townhouses, and is collectively home to more than 18,000 residents. The area spans over 6,500 acres, roughly between Southwest 120th and 88th streets and between Southwest 147th and 162nd avenues.

Gallego, 41, was first arrested in April of last year on charges that she misappropriated $60,000 from the homeowners association. On Tuesday, prosecutors brought new charges against her, including racketeering, organized scheme to defraud, money laundering, grand theft and fabricating physical evidence.

Also arrested on Tuesday were board member Myriam Rodgers, 76; former board member Yoleidis Lopez Garcia, 47; board president Monica Isabel Ghilardi, 52; and Gallego’s husband, Jose Antonio Gonzalez, 45.

Through a “web of deceit,” they funneled funds — including money paid by residents for their HOA dues — from the board’s coffers, Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle said at a press conference on Tuesday.

Part of the scheme involved allegedly bogus payments from the HOA, sometimes with Gallego or others who were charged signing the checks, supposedly for services rendered to the residential communities — even though the vendors did no work. Some of the funds were then allegedly channeled back to Gallego, according to the arrest affidavit. Two of the companies that posed as vendors, Excellent Work & Services and Cima Solutions, were led by Gonzalez.

Since 2017, Excellent Work received $1.2 million from the HOA, plus another $261,832, that also was HOA money but was funneled through other supposed vendors, the affidavit says. Cima received $49,563 of HOA money from December 2020 to this past August.

Another vendor originally testified in October 2020 that his companies provided post-Hurricane Irma cleanup services. But in another sworn statement last year, he said he had lied, and that his companies never did any work for the HOA, according to the arrest affidavit.

Hammocks residents “are the true victims of the alleged thefts that were uncovered during our investigations,” Fernandez Rundle said. “They diverted the money of hardworking families, retirees and their neighbors into the pockets of Ms. Gallego and her husband.”

The latest charges are hardly the only allegedly shadowy dealings by Hammocks’ leadership. Since the investigation started, they have consistently pushed back on court authorities’ subpoenas for budget records, and quoted prosecutors tens of thousands of dollars in fees to produce the documents, according to the arrest affidavit.

The HOA also is plagued by disputed board elections, and this year allegedly increased residents’ dues by 400 percent, the affidavit says.

Attorneys for the defendants could not be reached for comment or did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Fernandez Rundle said more arrests could be in the pipeline.

“This case is not closed,” she said. “There remains an ongoing criminal investigation into all of the activities, not only of these charged individuals, but also of other actions undertaken by the HOA board.”

The post South Florida’s biggest HOA’s leaders charged in massive fraud appeared first on The Real Deal South Florida.

Read MoreThe Real Deal South Florida