Overview
- Former HOA president Marglli Gallego, who pleaded guilty Thursday, received seven years in state prison and will also serve probation for orchestrating the theft from the Hammocks community.
- Her husband, Jose Antonio Gonzalez, admitted to money laundering and was sentenced to probation with $50,000 in restitution, and the plea required transferring a property valued at about $1.2 million.
- Prosecutors say the scheme diverted homeowner dues from roughly 18,000 residents by using shell companies and fake vendor invoices from 2017 to 2022, including one firm tied to Gonzalez that took more than $1.4 million.
- Investigators said they found key HOA records hidden at a spa in a Tamarac strip mall in Broward County, an offsite cache that helped map the flow of the stolen funds.
- Eight people have been arrested in the case, four have been sentenced and four await trial, and lawmakers responded with stricter rules on HOA elections, commingling of funds, and access to records.