Cops: Florida HOA president stole nearly $60,000, hired private eye to spy on enemies

The president of a sprawling West Kendall community association was arrested early Thursday on accusations she stole nearly $60,000 from the homeowners group — including money spent on a private investigator to spy on her perceived enemies in the neighborhood.

Marglli Gallego, 40, was booked into a Miami-Dade County jail on charges of grand theft and organized scheme to defraud. Gallego was a longtime official with the Hammocks Community Association, the largest homeowners association in Florida, which oversees 40 communities and over 6,500 units.

Police say that between November 2016 and March 2018, Gallego improperly used a HOA credit card for a wide array of personal purchases, including at supermarkets, bakeries and fast food restaurants such as Pollo Tropical, Panera Bread and Little Caesars.

Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle, in a statement, said Gallego’s activities as HOA president were “not only unneighborly, they are crimes.”

Gallego was being held Thursday morning at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center. Her defense lawyer on Thursday blasted the arrest, saying it was nothing more than disgruntled association rivals using police to remove Gallego before an upcoming HOA election.

“We look forward to our day in court. She is innocent of all these allegations and we have copious records to back up and prove all the expenses were justified and part of legitimate duties,” said attorney Sabino Jauregui. “She continues to be re-elected. She continues to be successful. The homeowners love her.”

This isn’t the first time someone associated with the Hammocks Community Association has been charged with fraud.

In 2016, Miami-Dade police arrested two former association employees, charging them with the stealing $148,000 meant for the group. The employees, police said, used the money for buys at supermarkets, toy stores and a popular underwear store in Hialeah.

El Nuevo Herald and Univision chronicled the case in a series called “Condo Nightmares.” Gallego, then the association treasurer, hailed the arrest.

“Justice was finally made!” Gallego said at the time. “This arrest sets an important precedent in our community. Now, it’s clear that authorities will arrest and take people committing fraud in Miami-Dade condominiums to court.”

Gallego became the HOA president in 2017, a position she still held on Thursday.

An arrest warrant depicts her as using HOA resources to go after enemies, ordering the community’s security to “harass” rival association members and filing lawsuits against people she felt were “targeting her unjustly.”

In November 2020, she even filed lawsuits against Miami-Dade economic crimes detective, Ivette Perez, who was leading the criminal probe that led to Thursday’s arrest.

Miami-Dade police took the case after residents raised concerns about a “decline” in the association’s reserve funds, and “excessive expenditures” and other undocumented spending, according to an arrest warrant by Perez and prosecutor Mary Ernst.

Police investigators found that the association spent $374,000 for a private detective firm, KP Assurance, a company located in Orlando. According to the warrant, Gallego went to court to fight subpoenas from police — but when financial records were turned over, none contained any information about KP Assurance.

The head of the firm, Reginald Phillips, told police he was first hired to investigate a personal injury lawsuit filed against the HOA. But Gallego soon began directing Phillips to “perform investigations that he believed were personal, including performing surveillance on her residential property.”

Gallego “told [Phillips] she believed her home was in danger because various people in the Hammocks were out to get her,” the warrant said.

Phillips told police that Gallego “would routinely text him random photos of individuals she believed were ‘watching’ her or that she thought should not be in various Hammocks locations,” the warrant said. Gallego also paid the private eye to do background checks on a Hammocks resident she had sued several times, and a Miami-Dade police sergeant involved in the criminal investigation, the warrant said

Jauregui, the defense lawyer, said all of the expenses are justified — including the food bills, which included nearly $1,000 at Little Caesers.

“It’s obvious she’s not spending $900 in pizza for her,” Jauregui said. “This is for the holidays and parties for the association.”

This story was originally published April 15, 2021 at 12:40 PM with the headline "Cops: Florida HOA president stole nearly $60,000, hired private eye to spy on enemies."