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Article Courtesy of NBC 6
News Miami
By Lorena Inclan
Published May 2, 2026
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WATCH VIDEO |
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A former president of the Hammocks Home Owners Association and her husband have
accepted plea deals in connection with the massive theft of funds from the HOA.
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Former Hammocks HOA President Marglli
Gallego and her husband, Jose Antonio Gonzalez, pled guilty
and accepted the deals at a hearing on Thursday.
Under her deal, Gallego was sentenced to seven years in
prison followed by seven years of probation.
Gonzalez was given seven years of probation and must pay a
$50,000 restitution and forfeit a $1.2 million home.
At a news conference Thursday afternoon, Miami-Dade State
Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle called the scheme "one
of the largest homeowner association frauds in U.S. history"
that bilked over 18,000 residents out of upwards of $11
million.
"For us it was important not only to get justice for the
homeowners but to make sure that they were made whole as
much as possible from this criminal case," Fernandez Rundle
said. "We believe that this is the longest prison sentence
ever for an HOA board president in the United States."
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A former president of the Hammocks Home Owners
Association and her husband have accepted plea deals in connection
with the massive theft of funds from the HOA.
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The husband and wife were among several arrested amid a years-long investigation
into racketeering, money laundering and grand theft at the HOA.
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Prosecutors said board members and
relatives used shell companies to funnel HOA funds to
themselves and their friends under the guise that they were
vendor payments.
The fake vendors were paid for performing little or no work,
prosecutors said.
Five suspects were arrested in November 2022 after they were
accused of stealing millions from the HOA in the scheme
dating back years.
When authorities searched the association office, they found
a "bunker" and a trap door in a ballroom that were used to
hide documents used in the scheme, Fernandez-Rundle said.
Gallego's husband, Gonzalez, and cousin, Kevin Leonardo
Alzate, were also arrested, along with board member and
former treasurer Myriam Rodgers and Yoleidis Lopez.
Gonzalez, working as a vendor, received over $1 million in
association funds for work never done or overbilled for,
Fernandez Rundle said.
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The Miami-Dade State Attorney's Office "Justice in
Motion" bus during the investigation at the Hammocks HOA
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The board's president after Gallego, Monica Ghilardi, was also arrested and
charged with racketeering and grand theft.
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Fernandez Rundle said four others have
already pled guilty, while others have cases pending and one
faces sentencing.
The Hammocks HOA oversees about 40 communities with more
than 6,500 units and around 18,000 residents, and is one of
the largest homeowners associations in the state and the
largest in Miami-Dade.
The HOA theft scandal led to the creation of a new state law
meant to protect homeowners.
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Jose
Gonzalez, Monica Ghilardi, Myriam Rodgers, Yoleidis Lopez, Marglli Gallego
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