The property manager accused of orchestrating a massive fraud scheme that diverted millions of dollars away from South Florida condo associations got his bond dropped to $2 million and could be released on home confinement.
Juan Awais and five others were arrested last week, accused in an alleged scheme that misappropriated more than $5.8 million from five condo associations across Miami-Dade County over five years. Awais faces 32 charges, including racketeering, money laundering, organized scheme to defraud, grand theft and kickbacks.
Awais is depicted as the mastermind of the scheme that used a network of entities led by his co-defendants to charge condo associations for roof repairs, window replacements and other work that was ultimately done by legitimate vendors, according to the arrest warrant. While the actual contractors were paid, the defendants’ entities allegedly diverted funds ostensibly for the repairs to their own business entities. The scheme also diverted funds from estoppels, the certificates issued when a condo unit is sold regarding the payment status of assessments, the warrant says.
Underpinning the scheme were familial relationships and acquaintances, including Awais’ step-daughter, Johana Perez-Tapia, who also was arrested and had Awais saved on her phone as “The Boss,” according to the warrant.
On Wednesday, Judge Zachary James reduced Awais’ bond, originally set at $3 million, and allowed for level-one house arrest under a total lockdown. A mandate prohibiting money used in the alleged scheme from being used for the bond was put in place.
The judge ordered Awais to surrender his passport, and his attorney said he already had.
The decision came after Awais’ attorney fervently argued that Awais isn’t a flight risk and that some of the charges are duplicative and that he shouldn’t be “punished” to pay a bond on repetitive counts, including for claims that don’t reference him individually. The attorney said this is Awais’ first arrest and talked up his reputation and good standing in the community. Awais is from Cuba and obtained a law degree there but is a U.S. citizen and has lived in Miami-Dade for 30 years, the attorney said.
“He has 20 family members and friends who are here,” the attorney said, having the people gathered in the courtroom in support of Awais stand up and adding that they’re willing to put their assets as collateral for his bond. “They are licensed clinicians, brokers, professional members of this community here in support of Mr. Awais. His roots are here.”
Awais has known about the Miami-Dade criminal probe for a year yet didn’t flee, the attorney said. Investigators executed a search warrant on Awais’ home about six months ago.
“On at least two occasions, I told [prosecutors], ‘If you are going to do an arrest, let me know. By all means, we will surrender him. You don’t need to go to his home and arrest him at 6 o’clock in the morning,’” the lawyer said. “They did it anyway.”
State prosecutors pushed back in court.
“There is a big difference between being investigated and later being charged,” the prosecutor said. “There is a concern for flight. … There is a lot of money floating around.”
Awais’ attorney argued the claims are for non-violent offenses.
James, the judge, said during his verbal order that the alleged crimes are “egregious.”
“While they may be couched as non-violent, the damage that has been alleged to be done has been extremely significant,” James said.
The others charged are Perez-Tapia, Awais’ step-daughter, and her mother, Delma Alonso, who previously was in a romantic relationship with Awais. Also charged are husband-and-wife Michael Irizarry and Cynthea Waltz, as well as Juliet Ramos.
Pleas aren’t listed for any of the defendants. Attorneys listed for Awais, Perez-Tapia, Alonso and Ramos didn’t respond to requests for comment. Attorneys aren’t listed for Irizarry and Waltz.
The charges against them come after a massive $11 million fraud case at the Hammocks homeowners association, South Florida’s biggest HOA. In that case, four people, including ringleader and ex-board president Marglli Gallego, pleaded guilty and was sentenced to seven years in prison. Charges are pending against four others.
Inside the scheme
Three of the condo associations allegedly victimized by the scheme had one commonality: They were managed by Sunshine Management Services, owned by Awais, prosecutors say.
Sunshine’s point managers for the properties — Ramos and Perez-Tapia — steered contractors to the associations with entities such as MJ Capital Services, controlled by Irizarry, and CMJ Construction, owned by Waltz, according to the warrant.
In one example, funds were funneled from a $10 million insurance settlement for damages caused by Hurricane Irma in 2017, prosecutors say. The Samari Lake East condominium association, a collection of five-story gray buildings with 635 units in Hialeah Gardens, received the money on April 4, 2024.
A day before the payment arrived, Waltz opened a bank account for CMJ Construction, according to the warrant.
In subsequent months, the association allegedly wired $3.3 million to CMJ’s bank account and then another $513,049. CMJ paid $3.1 million to the legitimate contractor, and it also paid Awais’ Sunshine, as well as his Florida’s Property Management Group, which in turn made payments to companies tied to Perez-Tapia, Ramos and Alonso, according to the warrant.
At Mira Villas condo association, home to 203 units in Miami-Dade’s Fontainebleau neighborhood, the former board president told investigators that it was Ramos’ idea to hire MJ Capital Services and open a separate bank account for insurance disbursements to pay MJ, according to the warrant.
But when a new board president took over, he alerted investigators that MJ was a project management company and not a roofing firm. According to the warrant, after Mira Villas paid MJ, it in turn paid the legitimate roofing contractor but also disbursed funds to entities tied to the defendants.
The scheme relied on Sunshine choosing “compliant” board members, some of whom authorized wire transfers with only one board member’s signature, investigators say. They allege that Sunshine hand-picked candidates for these positions by vetting prospective board members, even though the positions should be elected by unit owners.
Some of the defendants backdated disclosures and fabricated board meeting minutes to show approval of CMJ as a vendor, and they also attempted to obstruct the investigation, according to the warrant.
A board member said a Sunshine manager told her to avoid investigators, “and calls during her interview confirmed continued attempts to monitor and discourage her cooperation,” the investigators wrote in the warrant.
The scheme has cost the associations $7 million in losses, the warrant says. The judge inquired about the discrepancy between this figure and the $5.8 million, with the state responding that some of the amounts may have been misappropriated prior to the legal deadline to pursue charges.
