Authorities announce additional arrests as part of the HOA fraud investigation in Hammocks

MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Florida. – Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle holds a news conference Thursday to announce the latest arrest as part of the ongoing investigation into the Hammocks Community Association.

Authorities booked Kevin Leonardo Alzate, 32, the cousin of the former president of the Marglli Gallego homeowners association, into the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center last December. He is accused of perjury by making contradictory statements, falsifying physical evidence and resisting an officer without violence.

Gallego was previously arrested in the case along with Monica Ghilardi, Jose Antonio Gonzalez, Myriam Rodgers and Yoleidis Lopez. They are accused of stealing more than $1 million and were former or current board members at the time of their arrest.

Residents had expressed outrage over the HOA in southwest Miami-Dade for years, and it caught the attention of Cuban singer Willy Chirino, who called for an investigation into the HOA in 2022 after questions about elections and the arrest of her former president had been accused of theft and a significant increase in fees.

Alzate was an “integral part” of a plan to create “several years of legal delays” aimed at “avoiding the production of necessary financial documents necessary to facilitate criminal investigations, despite court orders,” according to a press release Miami District Attorney Dade explained.

Prosecutors accuse Alzate of submitting notarized affidavits demanding money from law enforcement, which he then used to justify his failure to cooperate with law enforcement’s legal requests. The HOA supported the costs of preparing the documents by submitting sworn, notarized affidavits.

In a statement, Miami-Dade District Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle called Alzate’s actions a “deliberate slap in the face” to the court system and judges and allowed HOA board members to “continue their thefts.”

Alzate appeared in a Miami-Dade courtroom on Saturday, where a judge set his bail at $11,000 and ordered him to hand over his passport.

Watch the press conference in the video below.

Local 10 Digital journalist Chris Gothner contributed to this story.