FLORIDA HOA BOD ARRESTED
BOARD members from Florida’s largest homeowners association allegedly stole $2million from residents, according to the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office.
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Former and current officials from the Hammocks Community Association that was in charge of 40 communities in West Kendall allegedly took millions from the organization and pocketed it for themselves in a scheme that lasted years.
Those who were charged included the former HOA president Marglli Gallego
Her husband, Jose Antonio Gonzalez,
the current HOA president Monica Isabel Ghilardi, board member Myriam Arango Rodgers, and former board member Yoleidis Lopez Garcia.
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All five of them have pleaded not guilty.
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“Racketeering and money laundering are terms we usually associate with drug cartels,”
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Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle said in November 2022 when the board members were arrested.
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Rundle added: “Never would anyone have connected such serious criminal allegations to one of the largest homeowner associations in Florida.”
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“The charges stem from misappropriating board funds to [Gallego’s] own use,” the state attorney said.
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Ten months prior to being charged with stealing millions, the HOA board held a secret budget meeting and then implemented a 300 to 400 percent increase in monthly maintenance fees, according to the Miami Herald.
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After the leaders’ arrests, a resident spoke out about the high fees she was paying.
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