MEXICO CITY (apro).- Just in the middle of the campaign for the Head of Government of Mexico City, the administration of Martí Batres published the reform to the local Penal Code that classifies real estate corruption as a crime and penalizes it with up to 20 years in prison, with the option of increasing the sentence by 50% more if it is committed to obtain economic benefits.
In a public event to announce the publication of the reform in the Official Gazette of the CDMX and its entry into force this Wednesday the 17th, the head of government highlighted that the purpose of this is to sanction public servants who allow or tolerate the construction of additional properties or apartments outside the law.
The Morenista added that this reform is also to inhibit groups such as the so-called “real estate cartel” that the local Attorney General’s Office (FGJCDMX) discovered in the Benito Juárez mayor’s office and of which so far there are four people sentenced who accepted their guilt.
This mayor’s office was governed until the end of last year by the PAN member Santiago Taboada, current candidate for the Head of Government for the PAN-PRI-PRD alliance.
This Tuesday, in the Old Town Hall Palace, the local official explained that article 276 Quater published today establishes that the crime of real estate corruption is committed by a public servant who, by action or omission, allows or tolerates the construction of real estate or building of additional floors to those authorized, without compliance with the requirements established in the Law.
“When works are allowed without rhyme or reason, without order, without meeting requirements, without complying with each step, situations occur such as new buildings that collapse with an earthquake or, to refer to a very serious recent case, the drilling of strategic facilities, such as a tunnel of the Metro Collective System,” said Batres, in relation to the damage to a Line 12 train at the Eje Central underground station, located in the Benito Juárez mayor’s office, which occurred in mid-March.
The head of government directly mentioned the “real estate cartel” of Benito Juárez which, he said, “involves former public servants of the mayor’s office, family members and partners, who in an organized manner participated in illegal constructions through two modus operandi: the authorization of apartments more in exchange for cash or apartments in said constructions, and the formation of companies in the real estate market to grant themselves permits for the works.”
Batres Guadarrama explained that in a year and a half the authorities detected 130 irregular works with extra floors, related to this group in the district. He added that, recently, the Secretariat of Urban Development and Housing (SEDUVI) identified four other projects with surplus floors. And he recalled that there are 12 arrest warrants authorized by judges, nine detained, four fugitives and four sentenced.
And he concluded: “Some calculate that the Benito Juárez real estate cartel, at least, has earned one billion pesos by allowing illegal construction or authorizing extra apartments.”
The FGJ office manager, Ulises Lara, explained that, in accordance with the Reform to the Penal Code, anyone who commits the crime of real estate corruption will be sentenced to between 10 and 20 years in prison, regardless of the other sanctions that may be applicable for the commission of other types of crimes, such as illicit enrichment and abusive exercise of functions.
He added that the penalty will increase by 50% when the real estate corruption behaviors produce economic benefits, either in cash or in kind to the public servant himself and his family.
Lara López recalled that the local FGJ has insured at least 60 properties, “the product of compromises, properties, whose market value is tens of millions of pesos due to the type of construction and their locations, mainly in the municipalities of Benito Juárez, Álvaro Obregón and Coyoacán”.
The Secretary of Urban Development and Housing (Seduvi), Inti Muñoz, stated that this classification allows residents to defend themselves and report when public servants authorize real estate works or developments without adherence to regulations.
The issue of real estate corruption has been used in the presidential and “chilangos” debates by the candidates of the Morena-PT-PVEM coalition, against those of the PAN-PRD-PRI alliance.
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2024-04-17 17:30:38
