A former controller for the Hammocks was charged in connection with the homeowners association’s alleged massive fraud scheme, marking the latest fallout in the case.
Jesus Cue allegedly aided the scheme by creating a limited liability company in the name of the husband of one of the former board members who also was charged in the scheme, according to Cue’s arrest warrant. Through this entity, Albri Consulting LLC, former board members were able to funnel money out of HOA coffers and into their own pockets, prosecutors with the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s office say in the warrant. Albri was registered to Dante Chauca, who is married to former board member Monica Ghilardi. Ghilardi pleaded guilty in the case and is cooperating with investigators.
Cue, 63, was arrested on charges of a single count each of unlawful compensation, racketeering, money laundering, grand theft between $20,000 and $100,000, and organized scheme to defraud over $50,000. He also faces three counts of fraudulent use of personal identification information, according to a Miami-Dade State Attorney’s press release.
The charges against him aren’t the first time Cue’s connection to the Hammocks has been investigated. David Gersten, the former Hammocks receiver who now is monitor of the HOA, filed a civil suit last year against Cue and his Worldwide Business Solutions accounting firm. The complaint made similar allegations as those now levied by prosecutors.
Gersten settled his suit against Cue and Worldwide this year for $50,000.
Lorne Ethan Berkeley, attorney for Cue and Worldwide, previously told The Real Deal that his clients provided legitimate services to the HOA and had no knowledge of any alleged misappropriation of funds.
After the criminal charges, Berkeley reiterated that Cue and Worldwide committed no wrongdoing.
“We are disappointed with the charges filed against” Cue, Berkeley said. “We believe that after a thorough review of the state’s investigation and conducting the appropriate investigation on behalf of Mr. Cue that the evidence will illustrate [he] was not part of any theft, money laundering, racketeering or organized fraud or scheme.”
Aside from serving as controller, Cue also was a business and accounting consultant to the HOA from 2018 to 2022. His Worldwide received $644,000 from the HOA, prosecutors say.
In 2020, Marglli Gallego, the alleged ringleader of the fraud, who has pleaded not guilty, suggested that Ghilardi should get paid, prosecutors say. But under state law, a board member can’t receive compensation for their work for an HOA.
“At Gallego’s direction, Cue explained to Ghilardi that she could get around this prohibition if they created a company in her husband’s name, pay the company as an HOA vendor, and then pay Ghilardi from this company,” prosecutors wrote in the arrest warrant.
In depositions and interviews with investigators, Chauca said he hadn’t authorized Cue to register Albri in Chauca’s name and that the entity was “created in his name at Gallego’s request,” according to a deposition included in the arrest warrant. Albri received $291,681 from the HOA from 2020 to 2022.
Cue’s arrest comes after prosecutors last month charged Gallego’s uncle, Ivan Dario Diez, on allegations he posed as a vendor to the Hammocks, collected payments from the HOA and completed little to no work on the West Kendall property.