An investigation by the Centro de Periodismo Investigativo (CPI) and Rayos X identified a scheme to register land supposedly sold by the Government of Puerto Rico using certifications and deeds with forged signatures. The land allegedly came from agencies including the Housing Department, the Highways and Transportation Authority (ACT) and the Land Authority (AT), in towns such as Isabela, Barceloneta, Guayama and Arecibo.
The scheme works by presenting a false deed or certification dated 10 or more years earlier, such as a 2003 deed filed in 2025; once registered, the lot is bought by another person or a dissolved corporation, then split into parcels sold and resold, usually among the same group. Former officials said they never appeared before the notaries and their signatures were falsified: Julia Torres Hernández, former executive director of the Housing Development and Improvements Administration, called it 'the theft of the year'; the documents also name Jorge Rivera Jiménez, former Housing secretary, and Carlos Gerardo Laboy Díaz, former Public Housing administrator.
Of 107 suspect certifications and deeds filed between 2021 and 2026, at least 29 are false, 21 registered and 8 expired or unregistered. Notary José Manuel Pérez Fernández, suspended in 2024, said he has no idea why his email appears in the filings.