In 2025, Gerald Romo Aguilar contacted a real estate agency to sell his house, a property that had taken his mother, Gladis Aguilar de la Cruz, 20 years to build.
In October of that year, the real estate agents told him that a client was interested; six months later, he discovered that it had all been a fraud scheme to take possession of his home.
After conducting his own investigation, he found that it was a property dispossession scheme involving public officials, lawyers, architects, and property appraisers.
As the visible heads of this network, he identifies two men known as Vladimir A. M. and Víctor Hugo P. C., who, he stated, have protection from state government authorities, security and law enforcement agencies, as well as the complicity of officials from the Institute of Registry Functions of the State of Oaxaca (IFREO), formerly the Public Property Registry.
He added that these individuals are also being investigated for the violent dispossession of another house in the Historic Center of the capital.
The Scam
Gerald Romo explains that the dispossession was carried out through IFREO officials, who allegedly falsified and altered property documents. They registered the house under Víctor Hugo P. C.’s name, for which they allegedly falsified or presented a forged document of a notarized purchase and sale instrument dated 2017.
In addition, they allegedly falsified a cadastral certificate, a payment receipt in favor of the Oaxaca de Juárez City Council for property transfer taxes, a proof of payment to a banking institution in favor of the Oaxaca State Finance Secretariat, and a registration certificate allegedly issued by the Registrar of the Central Judicial District on February 17, 2017, among other documents.
He states that the false documents were produced on official paper and bore seals from public institutions, which were determined to have been digitally forged, and that they used the notary book of Eduardo García Corpus.
As a result, they filed a complaint with the Oaxaca State Attorney General’s Office (FGEO) for the crimes of criminal association, fraud, intimidation, and extortion.
According to the victim, those responsible were not seeking to keep the property, but rather to obtain a bank loan and use the house as collateral.
Modus Operandi
Gerald Romo explained that Vladimir A. M. and Víctor Hugo P. C. present themselves as people interested in buying a property, never negotiate the price downward, say they will purchase it with a mortgage loan, and ask the owner to stop advertising the property for sale. To do so, they leave a 50,000-peso deposit and even claim that if the loan is not approved, the money will be forfeited.
Later, they ask for some modifications to the house —such as waterproofing or electrical repairs— on the grounds that these are necessary for the bank to approve the loan, but the purpose is allegedly to buy time.
Another person involved is a man who identifies himself as architect Adán Othón, who is allegedly responsible for appraising the property, but for whom there is no record online or on social media.
This man is mentioned in at least three other investigation files involving the same number of property dispossession cases.
Gerald Romo explains that a lawyer warned him that the alleged buyers were scammers who were setting up a property dispossession scheme.
“He told me, they are going to fabricate a debt and accuse you of trying to defraud them, and then they are going to take your house away from you.”
Following the warning, Gerald Romo organized a meeting with the real estate agency and the alleged buyers, who argued that the bank would not grant them the loan because of a legal issue involving the Oaxaca municipality, concerning the location where the house is situated. At that point, negotiations with them ended.
Gerald Romo filed a complaint for identity theft, criminal association, fraud, intimidation, and extortion.
Later, in July 2026, a new buyer arrived, and when they went to the IFREO to request the property documents in order to close the deal, they were informed that the house was registered in Víctor Hugo P. C.’s name.
Previously, Vladimir had contacted Gerald Romo again to tell him that he was still interested in the house.
Gerald Romo explains that during that call, Vladimir used the previous deposits, payments for procedures, and appraisals to argue that he owed them a debt.
“That was when I realized that these people really do belong to the Property Dispossession Cartel,” he said.
The Complaint
Gerald Romo and his mother went before the Metropolitan Sector Deputy Prosecutor’s Office of the Oaxaca Attorney General’s Office to file a formal complaint for the crime of identity theft, in his mother’s case; criminal association, fraud, intimidation, and extortion.
When the Public Prosecutor’s Office requested a report from the IFREO, the agency denied having any information. As of June 11, 2026, the house remained registered under Víctor Hugo P. C.’s name.
However, in the second request for information sent to the IFREO by the Public Prosecutor’s Office, the property was once again registered under Gladis Aguilar’s name.
“Vladimir called me and told me that he already knew I had filed the complaint and that his friends at the Oaxaca Prosecutor’s Office had informed him. He also told me that Víctor Hugo was angry. This was a very clear act of intimidation,” he said.
Later, collection lawyers arrived at his home in a white vehicle similar to the one Víctor Hugo used and placed a document on his door. Following that incident, he filed a second complaint for acts of intimidation and extortion.
According to the Oaxaca Attorney General’s Office, as of that time there were three investigation files open against Vladimir A. M. and Víctor Hugo P. C. involving the same number of property dispossession cases; there are also records of other cases.
A Major Problem
According to the FGEO, in Oaxaca there are 4,796 investigation files for the crime of property dispossession and 5,250 victims.
These schemes involve officials from the Cadastral Office, the IFRO, the Civil Registry, as well as public notaries and private individuals.
Nine people have been arrested in connection with these events, including Jorge Zárate Ramírez, former director of Oaxaca’s Civil Registry and Public Notary No. 84.
Source: eluniversal
