El Sol reports that the hotel chain owned by José Chapur Zahoul, the largest hotelier in Cancún, turned donations from his brothers Omar and Jabib, inheritances, and sales at bargain prices into a real estate accumulation machine.
Born into one of the most influential families of Lebanese origin in the Yucatán Peninsula, Chapur, owner of the Palace Group and father of Gibrán Chapur Dájer, inherited the family empire of department stores and hotels, but managed to diversify into the most profitable business of all: land.
“A review of twenty-one public records confirms that Chapur owns more than 39,000 square meters in Mérida and Progreso. The historical values declared in the deeds barely reach 5.7 million pesos in almost four decades, while the estimated value in the current market exceeds one hundred million,” the aforementioned outlet notes.
The Financial Intelligence Unit also identified a property valued at 240 million euros that was sold for just 12 million euros to a company linked to the businessman, prompting an investigation. Another allegation alleges that he operated a concession adjacent to the Moon Palace Hotel in the Riviera Maya without legal backing for more than two decades, generating millions in revenue.
These are the Moon Palace Jamaica Grande and the next hotel to open in the Dominican Republic, along with Punta Cana, where hoteliers from Quintana Roo are migrating, given the decline in domestic and international tourism in the state.
Source: reportur
