Billionaire Businessman Embroiled in Fraud and Corruption Scandal

Felix Gonzalez Canto, a billionaire businessman and former governor and senator, is facing numerous accusations of land dispossession, fraud against communal landowners, and illicit enrichment. Despite these allegations, Gonzalez Canto is attempting to consolidate his followers to increase his influence and wealth.

Gonzalez Canto, who owns at least 130 franchises of Oxxo convenience stores and numerous GoMart stores, is partnering with Ricardo Antonio Vega Serrador. The pair are planning to develop residential and hotel projects.

The accusations against Gonzalez Canto include the alleged dispossession of large areas of land in the 11 municipalities of Quintana Roo, fraud against communal landowners, and illicit enrichment. He is believed to have used his power to amass wealth over the past 15 years, leaving many families in Quintana Roo destitute.

Gonzalez Canto owns approximately 30 percent of the 441 Oxxo stores in Quintana Roo, with over 130 convenience stores located in Cancun, Puerto Morelos, Playa del Carmen, Puerto Aventuras, Akumal, and Tulum. He also faces accusations of fraud against communal landholders in all municipalities, particularly in Puerto Morelos and José María Morelos.

Gonzalez Canto and Vega Serrador are currently working on the Peninsula Cancun residential and hotel project in Pok Ta Pok in Cancun's Hotel Zone. They are allegedly attempting to manipulate environmental authorities to approve their Regional Environmental Impact Statement (EIC), which is currently under review.

To achieve this, Gonzalez Canto is rallying his followers, including local deputy Susana Hurtado, elected federal deputy Mildred Ávila, councilors like Jorge Rodríguez, and senator Marybel Villegas Canché. The pair plan to invest more than 23,961 million pesos in their Pok Ta Pok project.

In Puerto Morelos, where his close associate Laura Fernández Piña was in power, Gonzalez Canto is accused of leading the so-called "Agrarian Mafia". He allegedly took over large areas of communal lands, and is also accused of stealing the payment for the expropriation that his administration generated through the now-defunct Institute of the Real Estate Heritage of the Public Administration of the State of Quintana Roo (IPAE), amounting to almost 1,500 million pesos. Evidence of this double fraud has been gathered from documents and testimonies of communal landowners from Puerto Morelos.