The multimillion-dollar fraud case at the Hammocks, Florida’s second-largest homeowners’ association, is in its fourth year. Yet, a trial date remains elusive.

In 2022, five people were arrested over allegations that former board members hired bogus contractors and diverted payments, including to ex-board President Marglli Gallego and her husband, Jose Gonzalez, who allegedly led some of the fake vendors, court filings say. Three more people –– two of them Gallego relatives –– were later charged. Two of the ex-board members originally arrested have since switched to guilty pleas and cooperated with investigators.

The remaining six defendants maintain their not guilty pleas. Gallego, painted as the ringleader by prosecutors, is the only one still in jail after being denied bond.

Since the initial charges, the West Kendall HOA went through receivership, multiple civil suits and board elections. The criminal case? It periodically pops up for brief status hearings that shed no light on when trial will begin. Sometimes, hearings are postponed, including one for Feb. 6 moved to Tuesday.

“We all want a conclusion,” said Ana Danton, one of the roughly 18,000 Hammocks residents.

At issue: HOA fraud cases are massive, involving voluminous evidentiary files, and many witnesses and subpoenas, experts say. The problem is especially pronounced at the Hammocks due to its size and the fact that the HOA kept paper records. The court called it a “monster” case.

By last spring, the state submitted its final evidence, so Judge Laura Cruz called on defense attorneys to schedule depositions and said that continually blaming the amount of paperwork would eventually become “problematic.” Gallego’s attorney, Sabino Jauregui, countered the state had years to review files but the defense gets months. He then filed a motion to disqualify or recuse Cruz, which was denied. (Judge Andrea Ricker Wolfson now presides, which a court spokesperson previously said was due to regular judge rotation.)

Jauregui and most defense attorneys didn’t respond to a request for comment. Gonzalez’s attorney declined to comment.

George Pallas, an attorney for Ivan Dario Diez, accused of posing as a vendor, said the state controls the investigation’s pace and built its case “incrementally,” hence Diez’s 2024 arrest, showing “the probe is still active and evolving.”

“My client is entitled to a complete picture of the evidence, not piecemeal revelations that keep extending the proceedings,” said Pallas, who has said Diez did legitimate work and was targeted by others who took plea deals.

For Hammocks residents, the protracted case has been years in the making. It took five years after investigators started poking into the HOA for the 2022 charges to be filed.

“We want it to end, and it’s been so long,” Danton said.