The Chihuahua Attorney General’s office has seized five of former governor César Duarte Jáquez’s properties in the historic center of the city of Parral.

One of the houses is located some 50 meters from the site of the assassination of Francisco “Pancho” Villa, a general in the 1910 Mexican Revolution.

The five houses have been abandoned for 20 years or more. Neighbors told the newspaper El Universal that the former governor planned to take advantage of the economic spillover created by visitors to the area by opening a commercial center.

Every year on July 20 thousands of tourists gather on the street to witness a reenactment of Villa’s assassination, which took place on that spot and date in 1923.

Duarte had also planned to build what was to be the tallest equestrian statue in the world.

The monument was to be dedicated to Pancho Villa but federal authorities ordered the suspension of the work two years ago because the governor had ordered the demolition of a 19th-century heritage home.

Duarte was the governor of Chihuahua between 2010 and 2016 and is currently a fugitive, facing charges of corruption. Investigations into his alleged wrongdoings have resulted in the confiscation of close to 28 properties in his name.

Source: El Universal (sp)