Cozumel land illegally sold to judge is returned to community

The accused has been president of the Supreme Court of Justice of Quintana Roo since 2011.

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The land was sold by the former director of the state agency Real Estate Assets of the Public Administration (Ipae), Claudia Romanillos Villanueva, who has been under investigation for the sale of several pieces of land throughout the state.

There are several local and state agencies that should have a record of the sale of the Cozumel land, but no such record exists, said Fabiola Cortés Miranda, president of Somos tus Ojos, and Gabriel Yam Chan, a high ranking ejido (community land) official.

Ejido laws also prohibit a single individual from owning such a piece of land, said Yam.

After the non-governmental organization filed a formal complaint against Villanueva, generating vast coverage by local media, the judge was pressured to return 100 hectares to ejido authorities, reported the newspaper Milenio.

Villanueva has built a ranch known as San Gabriel on the other 35 hectares. It boasts a villa, baseball diamond, tennis courts and a stable of horses.

The ranch is located 18 kilometers from downtown Cozumel, where Somos tus Ojos claims he bought a 160-square-meter property from the state Urban Development and Housing Institute for only 11,000 pesos (about US $610).

Source: Milenio (sp) via mexiconewsdaily.com