SOT Files Criminal Complaint Over Quito Land Administration

Complaint enters the Fiscalía

The Superintendencia de Ordenamiento Territorial, Uso y Gestión del Suelo (SOT) filed a criminal complaint against the Municipality of Quito on July 30, 2026.

The complaint followed a monitoring process that identified alleged technical and administrative irregularities, along with indications of possible criminal conduct, in the control of land in the capital. The reported case concerns a property between the rural parishes of Tumbaco and La Merced, in the reference polygon known as Fundo Rumihuaico.

Four alleged offenses

The SOT’s complaint asks the Fiscalía to investigate four alleged offenses under Ecuador’s Comprehensive Organic Penal Code:

• Illegal occupation or use of land, or land trafficking, under Article 201
• Forgery and use of a forged document, under Article 328
• Computer forgery, under Article 234.1
• Crimes against land, under Article 252

The allegations remain under investigation. The report does not establish guilt, a final administrative finding, or a valuation impact.

Why the case matters to property and governance readers

Land administration risk is operational risk. Property transactions, development permissions, cadastral records, and land-use decisions depend on the reliability of the public information and the authorities that maintain it.

This is also the second time the SOT has used the criminal route against Quito’s administration after issuing administrative sanctions. The earlier case, reported in June 2026, concerned an alleged alteration or modification of official information in the cadastral database.

The current complaint therefore extends beyond one parcel. The market-relevant question is whether the Fiscalía investigation produces a documented finding, changes the administrative process, or affects confidence in the underlying records.

Watch: the Fiscalía’s investigative steps, any response from the municipality, and whether cadastral or land-use procedures change for the affected area.