Mérida Tycoon’s 37M Tax Debt Forgiven Amid Scandal

Mérida, Mexico — Mario Millet Encalada, a close collaborator with the government of Joaquín Díaz Mena, has obtained forgiveness for a tax credit exceeding 37 million pesos after incorrectly declaring Value-Added Tax (VAT) on income from nearly a decade ago, in 2015.

The Tax Administration Service (SAT), a decentralized body of the Ministry of Finance and Public Credit, detected that in 2015, the controversial builder, who has been a beneficiary of the Yucatán government, obtained total income of 47 million 76 thousand 78 pesos. From this, the SAT claimed 33 million 162 thousand 927 pesos from him for overdue credits from other concepts, according to case files consulted by Sol Quintana Roo.

Facing this claim, Millet Encalada astutely initiated a nullity trial in the Peninsular Chamber of the Federal Court of Administrative Justice, which did not rule in his favor regarding the claim in a sentence handed down on April 3, 2023.

"In the contested sentence (…) upon considering that it was illegal for the auditing authority to presume that the deposits in the actor's bank account amounted to $30,851,390.28," reads the consulted case file.

Dissatisfied, Mario Millet filed a direct amparo appeal, which was ultimately resolved by the Collegiate Court in Criminal and Administrative Matters of the Fourteenth Circuit, located in Mérida. The magistrates, headed by Juan Carlos Moreno López, determined to grant Mario Millet amparo, instructing the Peninsular Chamber of the Administrative Justice Court to definitively invalidate the original sentence that had denied the nullity of the claimed tax credit.

On February 19 of this year, the forgiveness of Mario Millet's multi-million peso credit was finalized, after the aforementioned collegiate court let the sentence in his favor become firm, thereby forgiving a significant amount of money that could have been used for public works and services for the neediest populations.

Mario Millet is currently under public scrutiny, as Sol Yucatán has previously reported. This media outlet recently informed that he is identified as the mastermind behind a network extorting bars, restaurants, and cantinas in Mérida.

The government operator, within a year, has allegedly overseen a network that sells protection and, in turn, reportedly extorts business owners. One of his right-hand men is a former member of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) with a dark criminal history, Alejandro de la Cruz Vázquez Favela, who serves as the legal director for the gas station chain Megasur G500, one of the companies that has benefited from millions of pesos for the acquisition of fuels and lubricants.

Vázquez Favela is alleged to be a key piece in the extortion network that the Morenista administration is operating. Despite not being a state official, he reportedly coordinates with inspectors from the Secretary of Health to propose "protection" payments.