Pablo Emilio Escobar Gaviria, the man who marked the history of Colombia as one of the great perpetrators of crimes will be in the news again in 2023 because of his criminal life.
But now, when many think that his name and deeds should be left in the past, the weight of his inheritance has reappeared and falls on his daughter: Juana Manuela Manuela Marroquin (Manuela Escobar Henao).
According to a report in the Colombian Semana magazine, there is an unimaginable debt for back taxes on many properties and buildings owned by the late drug trafficker.
And it is his daughter, as the direct family of the head of the ‘Medellín Cartel’ and registered as the heir to around 120 properties (including the Monaco and Dallas buildings), who is liable for this money.
The “richest girl in the world”, as some dared to call her because of the inheritance she was allegedly left, was 10 years old when her father was killed by the Colombian authorities.
Together with her mother and brother, they travelled to Argentina to rebuild their lives, changed their names and it seemed that they were going to leave behind all of Pablo‘s history.
Pablo Escobar’s daughter sues the Dian for this tax charge
According to the same media, between 2012 and 2013 Juana Manuela filed several lawsuits against the Dian (Direccion de Impuestos y Aduanas Nacionales) for reporting her as a debtor and responsible for the taxes on a large number of properties that her father had put in her name.
But since at the time of Escobar‘s death, she was only 10 years old and left the country, she considered that there was no justification for her to be blamed.
Furthermore, in the arguments, the woman herself indicates that she was not of age, conscience or responsibility for these assets. Nor was she responsible for the tax burdens they had accumulated in recent years, even though they had been inherited and her first name appeared on the papers.
Because of all this, added to the fact that she did not even live in the country and that no profit or advantage was taken from these properties, she brought the lawsuit and thought she could get out of the case without any problems. But this was not the case and now problems continue to arise.
Authorities ratify that Pablo Escobar inherited a million-dollar debt to his daughter
According to the report published by Semana, “the Administrative Court of Antioquia denied, one by one” the explanations, arguments and allegations of Escobar’s daughter.
And they firmly stated that “the properties were in her name and that, for years, she had omitted to pay taxes”. This response would have been known in 2018, but now it is being revived because the taxes continue to grow and add up.
But it was the 2006 Income Tax Return that was the worst news for Juana Manuela Marroquíin, as the list of assets she owned in Colombia and the alleged wealth of more than 5,400 million pesos appeared in the Dian reports.
In view of these amounts, she had to pay a very large sum of money for tax charges, but when she failed to do so, the fines and increases for being in arrears began to run.
Although she tried to hold an accountant responsible for not having done the correct procedure at the time, and filed an appeal with the Council of State to reconsider the ruling, everything was final and the debts remained in her name.
She insisted and filed an extraordinary appeal before the same entity to annul all the rulings against her and to put an end to the nightmare of this inheritance.
But after the review of the certificates of tradition and freedom, which were in her name, they found nothing to change the conditions and did not consider it.
What is the millionaire debt that Pablo Escobar left to his daughter?
To simplify matters, according to Semana magazine, it is 168 million pesos for back taxes and non-compliance with his obligations that Juana Manuela will have to pay to the Dian.
And one legal minimum monthly salary to the Council of State, as they considered that her claims were not justified and all her claims were met.
This is the story of the young woman who in 1998 changed her name from Manuela Escobar Henao and thus hoped not to be burdened with the inheritance of the name and surname of Pablo Emilio Escobar Gaviria.
But it has been impossible and now the inheritance has come in the form of a curse for her.