Sheinbaum assured that the Supreme Court’s resolutions on Ricardo Salinas Pliego’s debts occurred within the framework of the Law.
Mexico City, November 14 (However).- The President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo assured this Friday morning that the Ministry of Finance and Public Credit (SHCP) prepares the processes to follow to collect the debts that Grupo Salinas, of Ricardo Salinas Pliegoowes to Tax Administration Service (SAT), after yesterday the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation (SCJN) resolved to reject seven appeals presented by the magnate, after 15 years of judicial processes and litigation. The president stressed that other authorities, even prior to the arrival of the Fourth Transformation (Q4), they had already agreed with the treasury.
“Now another procedure is coming. We are going to ask the Treasury to come and explain the processes. First, you notify, if you pay, the matter is resolved; if you don’t pay, a series of procedures that are part of a legal procedure that has to be followed must come,” said the President.
Sheinbaum reiterated that the Salinas Pliego case only has to do with the application of the Law and denied that his project is authoritarian. “Everything within the framework of the Law, here there is no authoritarianism or anything, but simply the calculation of what is owed, to whom he has benefits if he pays. If he does not pay, there are also procedures to guarantee that he pays because it is the Law. […] “It’s justice,” he said.
The president stressed that various authorities always agreed with the SAT regarding the payment of the business group’s taxes. “It is important to say that there were several processes, in some cases there were 15 years of litigation that reached the Court at the time before the ministers were elected. And the Court left them frozen and did not want to decide. It is not even that it decided against or in favor, it did not want to decide. They come to the court, it admits them and then freezes them, it does not resolve, it leaves them in a drawer and finally today the Court resolves,” he explained.
The Head of the federal Executive avoided ruling out whether there could be a commercial bankruptcy of Grupo Salinas. “It is a long procedure, it is not a procedure of three or four days, or weeks. It is a procedure that takes time, if you decide not to pay. If you decide not to pay, then there is a long procedure, but justice is that simple,” he pointed out.
Regarding whether the Court ministers who delayed the cases of Salinas Pliego’s debts will be investigated, the President affirmed that the people of Mexico voted for a change in the Judiciary and that it must be consolidated.
“From our perspective it does not make sense to start sanctioning whether there was one or another behavior of the previous ministers, the important thing is that this judicial power is consolidated, validated, legitimized in front of the people and in front of all the members of our society. That is what from my perspective happened now, it is a resolution that has to do with our justice system, it is not a resolution by slogan, it is not that someone spoke to the judges. No. They have autonomy and they resolve,” he highlighted.
How much does Grupo Salinas owe?
After the determination of the Supreme Court, Grupo Salinas will not be able to avoid paying 48 billion pesos to the SAT. However, it is not the only debt you have.
Last June, the Federal Prosecutor’s Office explained that Grupo Salinas had at least 32 pending trials both in Court and in other instances that amount to 74 billion pesos.
It was during the Government of Andrés Manuel López Obrador when, when asked by Howeverit was stated in March 2024 that Salinas Pliego owed 63 billion pesos for 17 lawsuits, an amount that originally amounted to 38 billion pesos, but increased after updates and credits issued in the last administration. Last June, the Presidency, already in the Government of Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo, reported that Salinas Pliego owed 74 billion pesos for 32 pending trials.