A shady ex-homeowners association president and her husband — who authorities said ran their Miami homeowner’s association like “an organized crime syndicate” — confessed this week to their part in a massive $11 million fraud that drained money from the community’s fund.
Marglli Gallego, the former leader of the Hammocks Community Association, and her husband, Jose Antonio Gonzalez, admitted Thursday in a Miami-Dade court to the years-long scheme that prosecutors say ripped off 18,000 people.
Gallego, 44, pleaded guilty to racketeering and grand theft, and was sentenced to seven years in prison and seven years of probation, according to office of Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle. She has already been behind bars for about three and a half years, which will count towards her sentence.
Gonzalez, 49, pleaded guilty to one count of money laundering, and was sentenced to seven years of probation and forced to pay $50,000 in restitution to the HOA.
The couple also had to forfeit a $1.2 million home outside of the Hammocks community as part of their plea deals, the state attorney’s office said.
“The now-convicted thieves ran the Hammocks HOA like an organized crime syndicate only to benefit themselves, their family and their friends,” Fernandez Rundle said during a news conference.
“Their victims were each of the homeowners.”
Gallego was the ringleader of what Fernandez Rundle described as “one of the largest homeowner association frauds in US history.”
Police launched an investigation into the scheme in 2022 after baffled residents noticed the HOA’s funds mysteriously depleting, according to court documents obtained by The Miami-Herald.
The couple were among eight people — including former board members and Gallego’s relatives — arrested in connection to the plot, in which they created fake companies and vendors to funnel money through the HOA to themselves. Four have been sentenced, while the others are still awaiting trial.
Gallego and her fraud army operated between 2017 to 2022, according to prosecutors.
She used HOA credit cards to buy fast-food and groceries and hired community security guards to “harass” rival association members, according to authorities.
Investigators revealed documents linked to the fraud were stashed away in a spa inside a vacant building in a strip mall in Tamarac in Broward County, about 50 miles away from the community.
While Fernandez Rundle said Gallego’s sentence is the longest ever handed to a board member, scorned residents said they aren’t satisfied with the outcome.
“A lot of people lost their home. It’s $11 million. Seven years in jail versus $11 million. Where’s the money? Are the people that lost their home going to recover their home?” Hammocks resident, Ana Danton, told CBS News.
Gonzalez’s attorney Jude Faccidomo said his client is “pleased to put this matter behind him.”
“We thank the State Attorney for taking the time to meet with our team and ultimately acknowledging Mr. Gonzalez’s limited culpability which is reflected by the agreement for probation,” Faccidomo said.
Gallego’s lawyer did not immediately return a request for comment.