The president of a luxury condo association in Aventura has been arrested for stealing $1.5 million from the association and hundreds of property owners, Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle announced Tuesday afternoon.
Arrested was Gregori Arzoumanov, 62, the president of the Turnberry on the Green Condominiums, a luxury high-rise overlooking the exclusive Turnberry Isle Country Club near the Aventura Mall, Fernandez Rundle told reporters at a press conference. Arzoumanov is alleged to have embezzled the $1.5 million over a seven-year period.
"Although everything appears wonderful at the Turnberry on the Green Condominiums, it turns out there was trouble in paradise," Fernandez Rundle said.
According to the arrest warrant, Arzoumanov held several jobs within the 378-unit condo building. He was the building's chief engineer at an annual salary of $80,000. He also held the title of property manager.
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"This combination of positions allowed the defendant to select contractors, make purchases and seek reimbursement for non卢association expenses with no oversight or checks and balances," according to the arrest warrant. "The defendant strategically over time placed himself in these upper management positions as a means to avoid oversight and maintain unfiltered access to the association鈥檚 finances."
Said Aventura Police Chief Michael Bentolila, who joined Fernandez Rundle at the press conference: "This was an intricate fraud case where he took over not just the building but all, everything going on around the building, every asset used in and around the building, it was a complete takeover, I've never seen anything like this in my entire career."
Bentolila encouraged anyone with information about the alleged crimes to step forward to law enforcement authorities. He indicated more arrests may be imminent.
"You have a window of opportunity to reach out to our detectives or the state attorney's office to work with us," he told reporters. "But that is a very small window. If you don't take it, we will be at your front door and we will be arresting you as well."
Arzoumanov and his family moved into the condominium complex in 2004, and he was elected condo board president in 2008, to the condo board's website.
In his bio, Arzoumanov says he's originally from the country of Georgia and that he holds a Ph.D. in quantum physics and was a member of the Georgian National swim team.
"The current board made this association the most financially stable condominium in South Florida," Arzoumanov said in a post on the condo board website before Tuesday's arrest. He said the board inherited a "disastrous financial condition" in 2008 when he came president.
