00:00Abelardo de la Espriella, the president of Colombia, has just found himself at the center of
00:04a legal dispute on behalf of the law firm he founded and of which he
00:08He stepped aside in 2015 to reach the Casa de Nariño (Presidential Palace).
00:11The Administrative Court of Cundinamarca ordered Espriella Lawyers to pay $571
00:15millions for tax irregularities in a $3 billion contract with Health
00:20Vida EPS, which was signed in November 2018.
00:24The investigative unit of El Espectador obtained the 32-page document, which confirms
00:29a first instance ruling against the company founded by the president
00:32in 2002.
00:34The decision taken unanimously by the judges on September 22nd confirmed a sanction
00:39that the DIAN imposed on the Law Office for not correctly declaring the VAT of the
00:44legal services provided to that EPS.
00:46At that time the firm was legally represented by Daniel Peña Redonda.
00:50He is one of Espriella's most trusted men and one who in recent years
00:55He provided legal advice to Alex Saab, Nicolás Maduro's silver confessor.
01:00The process began in 2019 after the Superintendency of Health alerted the DIAN (National Tax and Customs Directorate).
01:05regarding possible tax irregularities in that contract.
01:09Then, in 2021, after requesting information from Priya Lawyers, the Colombian tax authorities ended
01:14fining the law firm.
01:16But what was the law firm's response?
01:17Priya Lawyers argued that their services should be excluded from Viva because they were
01:21related to the provision of health services and had been paid for with resources
01:26public members of the Training Payment Unit, known as UPC.
01:31The firm also asserted that its work enabled Salud Vida EPS to comply with court orders.
01:37to deliver medicines and guarantee medical services.
01:40However, the Administrative Court of Cundinamarca concluded that the contract had
01:44The purpose is to legally defend the interests of the EPS, not to directly provide services
01:50health.
01:50One of the strongest sections of the decision points out that there was no difference of
01:55legal criteria that would justify exonerating the firm from the sanction.
01:59On the contrary, the judges accepted the DIAN's argument regarding a lack of knowledge
02:04of the right on the part of the plaintiff, that is, by Priya Lawyers.
02:08But the contract with Salud Vida also has a political aspect.
02:12On June 15, then presidential candidate Iván Cepeda filed a complaint
02:17before the Prosecutor's Office against Priya and members of her campaign for alleged embezzlement maneuvers
02:22of health system resources.
02:24According to Cepeda, the contract with Salud Vida and the law firm amounted to 18 billion
02:29of pesos, 3 billion in fees and another 15 billion as a success bonus.
02:34He also pointed to Joaquín Gutiérrez, now president of Ecopetrol and a key figure in his
02:38political campaign for alleged payments to EPS related to paramilitary structures.
02:43We learned that Senator Iván Cepeda's complaint was sent a few weeks ago to the
02:48House of Representatives Accusations Committee, the body that has the authority
02:52to investigate the President of the Republic.
02:55For their part, Priya and Joaquín Gutiérrez have not commented since then.
02:59Regarding those allegations, Priya Lawyers did not respond to our questions.
03:03and issued a statement requesting two things.
03:06First, that they would abide by the court ruling.
03:08Second, he asked that the decision issued by the Administrative Court not be politically manipulated.
03:14from Cundinamarca.
03:15To learn more about this and other reports, we invite you to visit the section
03:19Read the investigation at elespectador.com and don't forget to follow us on our social media.
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