“The board members of these associations apparently had no idea what was really happening,” Miami-Dade Sheriff Rosie Cordero-Stutz said.
She was talking about five condominium communities and a two-year investigation the sheriff’s office called Operation Sundown. Six people have been arrested.
Authorities identified them as Juan Awais, 60; Juliet Ramos, 37; Johana Barrios Perez-Tapia, 31; Delma Alonso, 53; Michael Irizarry; and Cynthea Louise Waltz. Awais faces charges including racketeering, money laundering, organized fraud, grand theft and accepting or soliciting a kickback. Ramos, Perez-Tapia and Alonso also face racketeering, money laundering and multiple organized fraud charges.
Jail records cited in current reporting showed Awais held on $3,002,500 bond. Alonso’s bond was listed at $2,202,500, Perez-Tapia’s at $720,000 and Ramos’ at $722,500. Irizarry and Waltz were arrested by Pembroke Pines police and did not initially appear in Miami-Dade jail records.
A $796,000 Hurricane Irma Check Was Part of the Investigation
Operation Sundown involved five communities: Mira Villa Condo Association, Los Sueños Condo, Samari Lake East Condo Association, Lago Grande and Country Lake Manors. Most are in or around Hialeah. CBS News Miami spoke with the president of Lago Grande after the arrests. The association was aware of the investigation and trying to learn more, but its president declined to comment on camera.
Mira Villa had received a $796,000 insurance check after Hurricane Irma. Part of the money paid for a roof. Investigators say hundreds of thousands of dollars went to other companies related to people charged in the case.
“Homeowners were dealing with the aftermath of a devastating hurricane and the insurance money was supposed to repair their homes,” Cordero-Stutz said. The sheriff’s office says association dues, loan proceeds and collection revenue were examined too.
Awais Had Been in South Florida Condo Management for Years
Awais owned a property management company. Cordero-Stutz said he spoke Spanish with board members and used his “cultural connections” to build relationships with them. Awais had been involved in South Florida condominium management for years before Operation Sundown.
Florida’s Property Management Group Corp. held a state community association management business license beginning in 2009. State licensing records listed Awais as one of its community association manager employees. The firm’s license expired in 2015. Sunshine Management Services was formed that May, with Awais listed in Florida corporate records as its manager.
A year later, Sunshine appeared in reporting about disputes over condominium elections in South Florida. The reporting involved several properties and Florida investigations into complaints about election records. At the Beach Club condominium, resident Katherine Castro went to Sunshine’s office because she wanted to inspect documents from an association election. She did not make a quick visit. Castro said she photographed about 2,000 pages.
El Nuevo Herald and Univision 23 later contacted 92 owners whose names appeared among more than 500 recorded votes. Eighty-four told the outlets they were concerned after reviewing signatures attributed to them. Sunshine administrator Juliet Siglier told the outlets at the time that Sunshine had taken over several contracts previously held by Florida’s Property Management Group. One of those properties was Los Sueños.
Los Sueños is now one of the five communities named in Operation Sundown. There was another dispute over records at Los Sueños in 2016. An election monitor named Mónica Hidalgo told the Miami Herald that Sunshine contacted her directly to monitor an election there.
Sunshine representatives initially told El Nuevo Herald and Univision 23 that Hidalgo had been sent by the state as a neutral monitor. Hidalgo said Sunshine was the one that contacted her. She also said condominium associations paid her for that work. A Sunshine public relations representative later told reporters that the company believed the information it had provided about Hidalgo was correct.
Operation Sundown Began Years Later With Complaints From Residents
Operation Sundown began years later with complaints from residents. Detectives spent about two years on the investigation. They served seven search warrants involving phones, computers and electronic records and followed money that had been approved through condominium boards.
Cordero-Stutz said Awais had built a network around the associations he was hired to serve. “Legitimate contracts and legitimate works were allegedly used as part of a larger system for extracting money from homeowners,” she said.
Roofing, collections, security, landscaping and renovations were among the expenses investigators examined. Investigators say invoices went out for services that had already been paid for and for work that was never done.
“We believe the losses are significantly greater,” Cordero-Stutz said. She said investigators expect the case to continue.
What Condo Owners Can Ask to See
Cordero-Stutz turned to the people who actually pay those bills. “Your monthly association fees and special assessments are your hard-earned money,” she said. “You have every right to know where that money is going.”
Florida has a written form for doing exactly that. Its title is Request to Access Association Records. “I request to inspect and copy the following official records of the association,” the form says.
The form includes a table where owners can list the records they want. Each row has a Yes or No column for whether it was provided. It says the records must be available “within 10 working days after receipt of written request.” DBPR also publishes a complaint form for condominium owners.