Cancun, Q.R. — A Cancun real estate project reported for selling lots with falsified documents has been closed. The lots being sold and resold with falsified documents was finally shut down June 26.
Dozens of people who bought the lots are out hundreds of thousands of pesos. According to state officials, the scam has amounted to more than 200 million pesos.
Real estate lots for less than 350,000 pesos were being sold by a company called Global Martinez for the eventual development of Cuidad Varuna. The new residential development was near the Cancun International Airport.
On June 26, municipal authorities in Cancun permanently closed Oriolo Residencial, owned by the Global Martínez real estate company for building without permits, not having subdivision plans or a subdivision license authorized by the Municipal Secretariat of Ecology and Urban Development.
Through the companies Ciudad Varuna and Inver Varuna, the real estate company Global Martínez defrauded hundreds families by selling lots on land owned by the nation where the Maya Train will pass.
The 250 square meters lots they were selling was on land that belongs to the federal government for Maya Train development. The company has been selling lots on the 413 hectares of land for around four years.
Numerous buyers took advantage of the small down payment and easy 120 monthly installment plan to pay for their lots during the first stage of selling. However, they soon found out that the land they bought actually belongs to the government.
There have been allegations of internal corruption.
Román Meyer Falcón, the Secretary of Agrarian, Territorial and Urban Development (Sedatu), says the that title of ownership of the project was falsified with official documents.
He says that the titles, public officials’ names and signatures of officials were falsified and an attempt was made to register these titles in the Public Property Registry. It was then that the Public Registry contact the Secretaría de Desarrollo Agrario, Territorial y Urbano (Sedatu) to verify signatures and names. Meyer Falcón said they verified the titles as being false.
In March of 2022 , Sedatu requested the Public Property Registry of Quintana Roo to carry out “the immobilization and securing of the property.” He also requested, through a document, that the Municipal Cadastre Office of Benito Juárez “refrain from granting permits, authorizations or licenses on the Varuna property.”
However, the Global Martínez company, through the commercial and investment promotion companies it established between July and September 2021, continued to sell the lots.
Despite requests from Sedatu, the titles to Ciudad Varuna were irregularly registered in the state public registry. In December 2023, the agency filed complaints with the Attorney General’s Office of the Republic (FGR) and the state (FGE) for the falsification of the title of ownership of the 413 hectares.
In response to protests from defrauded customers demanding their money back, Global Martínez ‘s sellers are offering to move them to other real estate developments such as Camelias Residencial or Oriolo Residencial, despite the latter having already been closed.
On June 26, Cancun City Hall officials visited the site themselves to shut it down. A minute-long video of its closure was posted on social media by Pablo Gutiérrez Fernández, the Secretariat of Ecology and Urban Development who said “we kindly call on citizens to take care of their assets and seek advice before investing in a property. The “Oriolo” Residential Complex was closed for not complying with the necessary permits for its construction.”
