A group of people who claim they were defrauded in the purchase of land in various real estate developments across Querétaro has denounced the existence of an alleged fraud scheme linked to projects associated with Los Cues Inmobiliaria S.A. de C.V.. According to the group, the economic damages could exceed 15 billion pesos and may involve more than 200,000 affected individuals.
The spokesperson for the movement, Claudia Manilla, explained that the organization began forming in April 2025, when an initial group of affected buyers decided to come together after identifying irregularities in the pre-sale of land lots.
Over time, she said, more people who had purchased property in different residential developments joined the movement after recognizing similar situations in municipalities across the state.
“We are organizing ourselves as a group of defrauded people. It started initially with one residential development,” she explained, adding that the group now holds meetings, weekly press conferences, and maintains contact among affected neighbors.
According to Manilla, buyers from at least four major developments are currently involved, including El Roble, Tierra Noble de Huimilpan, El Encino, and Quercus. All of them, she claims, were connected to land pre-sale operations that allegedly lacked complete permits for urbanization, lot subdivision, or commercialization.
In several cases, buyers reportedly signed contracts and made monthly payments for years without seeing visible progress on the projects.
Manilla stated that the same pattern appears repeatedly: the advance sale of lots, promises of high property appreciation, and later the absence of permits or any real infrastructure development.
One of the cases the affected group considers most representative is the El Roble development. According to Manilla, public promotional events were held there with the participation of state and municipal authorities, including former Querétaro Secretary of Sustainable Development Marco Antonio del Prete.
At those events, she said, citizens were encouraged to invest in what was presented as a high-growth area.
“There was an event called the laying of the first stone, where state government authorities were present and invited people to come purchase land,” she said, adding that these events generated trust among buyers.
However, over time, affected buyers began investigating the legal status of their properties and allegedly discovered that the developments did not have permits for sales or formal urban development.
“There were not even provisional permits for lot sales.”
As a result, buyers organized themselves and began filing individual complaints with the Fiscalía General del Estado de Querétaro while simultaneously documenting similar cases in other developments.
According to Manilla, this process revealed a repeated pattern across multiple municipalities in Querétaro, leading to the expansion of the movement.
The spokesperson estimated that each development involved between 800 and 1,000 lots, meaning the number of affected people could reach tens of thousands.
Collectively, she estimated that the financial impact of these projects could amount to approximately 15 billion pesos, considering payments made by buyers across the different developments.
“All of us were defrauded in the purchase of pre-sale land.”
She added that many buyers continued making payments during the COVID-19 pandemic after developers allegedly argued that administrative procedures had been delayed because of the pandemic, temporarily halting progress on the projects.
According to the affected buyers, this explanation was used for nearly two years while customers maintained expectations that construction and urbanization would resume once pandemic restrictions ended.
However, after the health emergency concluded, they claim no progress occurred in either infrastructure development or land delivery.
“We realized they did not even have permits for sales,” Manilla stated, explaining that buyers eventually sought information directly from authorities to verify the legal situation of the projects.
Regarding legal follow-up, the affected group said they have filed multiple complaints with the state attorney general’s office, some of which are more than three years old, without significant progress in the investigations.
Manilla argued that this demonstrates a lack of institutional response that has prolonged the conflict for nearly nine years.
She also accused Querétaro Attorney General Víctor Antonio Jesús Hernández of institutional inaction that has allegedly slowed the investigations.
Additionally, she referred to prosecutor Lorena Vargas Moreno, whom she identified as overseeing some of the cases without substantial results so far.
The group also stated that one of the individuals accused of allegedly participating in the fraud scheme, José Martín Sandoval Soto, was formally charged but allowed to remain free under precautionary measures, including mandatory check-ins every 15 days.
Manilla explained that the complementary investigation period — initially set for four months — reportedly expired in early April without any final resolution being issued, and the current legal status of the accused remains unclear.
Finally, the spokesperson urged both state and federal authorities to accelerate the investigations, continue advancing the open case files, and prevent the cases from becoming permanently stalled.
She warned that the number of affected individuals continues to grow and that the conflict could escalate further if authorities fail to address the issue in a comprehensive manner.
Source: aristeguinoticias
