Photo: iStock

By MARK LORENZANA

Luis Oswaldo Espinoza Marín, a lawyer and owner of the real estate agency and law firm Professional Legal Advisors (AJP) in the Mexican central-western state of Jalisco, committed suicide on the afternoon of Saturday, Aug. 6, by shooting himself in the head after agents from the Jalisco Prosecutor’s Office went to his residence in the municipality of Zapopan. The agents were responding to 130 complaints of fraud against Espinoza Marín.

The Jalisco Prosecutor’s Office confirmed that agents arrived at Espinoza Marín’s residence, but they were immediately greeted with gunshots. The agents took cover and then entered the home to discover Espinoza Marín’s lifeless body in a bedroom on the first floor, with a gun on his chest.

Hours before taking his own life, Espinoza Marín posted a video on various social media networks, where he admitted that he was guilty of defrauding clients of their money that they invested in his company.

“Everything I’m facing now was caused by my own deceit. I begged my wife to sign blank documents, which I later manipulated as I pleased,” he said in front of a camera. “Currently, I can’t move on with my life.”

In the four-minute video, Espinoza Marín, who was already being referred to as the Bernie Madoff of Mexico, explained that he was able to run his company well for 29 years, but in the last four months, had faced a financial crisis triggered by the covid-19 pandemic. He cleared his family, coworkers, children and business partner from any wrongdoing, and insisted that he was the only one to blame for the fraud.

According to complaints submitted to the Jalisco Prosecutor’s Office, Espinoza Marín’s company used investors’ money to acquire real estate, and the investors in turn received commissions. Investors pointed out that they had no problems with the company for many years, until reports surfaced that Espinoza Marín allegedly fired his staff, and was no longer responding to calls. Authorities estimate that between 3,000 and 10,000 people were defrauded of their investments, which totaled millions of dollars.

Athletes and celebrities from the entertainment industry in Mexico had invested their money with Espinoza Marín. Some had reported investments of millions of pesos, and others said that they trusted the real estate company for years.

Espinoza Marín graduated from the University of Guadalajara and specialized in notarial law and finance. He founded AJP 30 years ago, which was dedicated to the sale and purchase of real estate. The company was sustained by investments of partners, friends and politicians.

The lawyer allegedly had investors to whom he owed more than 100 million pesos each. Espinoza Marín likewise said he was the victim of death threats, as well as a smear campaign against him.