For many years, Juan Collado has been a familiar face in Mexico’s legal and political landscape. The renowned lawyer and businessman became famous for his outstanding work and defending politicians and businessmen. Nevertheless, the situation changed dramatically in July 2019, when the lawyer was arrested in Mexico City, accused of severe financial issues. The Juan Collado scandal has become one of the most widely discussed headlines, which attracted global media’s attention. However, this story had an unexpected continuation, which occurred several years after the lawyer’s arrest.
Several of the most serious charges against him were eventually dropped. Meanwhile, another case involving alleged tax fraud was still ongoing. What happened to the lawyer?
Who Is Juan Collado?
The Juan Collado scandal involves a prominent lawyer and businessman. Juan Ramirez Collado Mocelo has served as an advisor to numerous politicians and businessmen. Some of the most well-known people who were his clients or business partners include former President Enrique Peña Nieto, former governor of Hidalgo Mario Villanueva, and Raúl Salinas de Gortari.
These connections became the main basis for the Juan Collado scandal, as the investigation into his finances and illegal enrichment took off.
Why Was Juan Collado Arrested?
Mexican authorities arrested Juan Collado in a restaurant in the Lomas de Chapultepec neighborhood of Mexico City. According to the prosecution, the man’s alleged involvement in organized crime and illegal enrichment took center stage.
In particular, Caja Libertad, a Mexican financial institution, became the focus of the probes. Prosecutors allege that several companies were involved in a dubious real estate deal in Querétaro. The main accusation against Juan Collado involved a 24 million peso deposit in accounts connected to him.
The defense argued that these allegations were false and without sufficient proof.
The Caja Libertad Case
It was the Caja Libertad case, in particular, that became the cornerstone of the prosecution’s arguments. Prosecutors argue that the alleged 13.3 million peso bribe was part of a much larger scheme.
The Juan Collado scandal involved hundreds of millions of pesos – 430 million in total, according to prosecutors. The Caja Libertad case involved Juan Collado in a property dispute with significant sums of money.
The allegations were serious but, ultimately, not serious enough to convict the defendant. In January 2024, a federal judge terminated the organized-crime and money-laundering case, ruling that prosecutors failed to prove that the defendant was involved with the illegal use of the funds.
Four Years Behind Bars
Juan Collado spent more than four years in Mexican prisons. The Juan Collado scandal caused serious health problems for the defendant. Therefore, in September 2023, a judge allowed him to serve the rest of his sentence outside of prison.
The defendant was placed under house arrest, with an electronic wristband, and was ordered to surrender his passport and pay a one-million-peso fine.
The Juan Collado scandal continued to unfold, as other cases were still being considered in Mexican courts.
The Tax Fraud Allegation
One of the cases was related to allegations of tax evasion. In particular, Juan Collado was accused of evading 36.8 million pesos in taxes.
The defendant claimed that he reported 74.9 million pesos in revenue, while the Mexican tax authorities estimated it at 182.8 million. In April 2024, a judge canceled these proceedings, but Mexican federal prosecutors filed a complaint with the tax authorities, claiming that this decision should not have taken place. As a result, in April 2025, the appellate tribunal ordered for these proceedings to be re-opened. The tax fraud case took another turn in 2026, when a federal tribunal rejected Juan Collado’s request to end the proceedings under the amparo.
According to reports, they also filed another lawsuit, meaning that the tax issue is far from being closed.
What Happened to the Other Cases?
A number of cases have been filed in the Juan Collado scandal, which complicates the narrative.
According to reports in 2026, three of the four criminal cases originally brought against Juan Collado were canceled. In addition, the cases were also complicated by other circumstances and were not found to be true by the courts.
In particular, one of the cases involved allegations of misappropriation of funds in Andorra, which was transferred to Mexico’s Supreme Court. In 2025, the Supreme Court declined to hear the Finance Intelligence Unit’s challenge of the case based on jurisdiction issues.
Final Thoughts
Summing up, the Juan Collado scandal includes the famous Mexican lawyer and businessman, who was accused of various severe financial felonies.
Initially, the defendant was convicted; however, additionally, he was released on probation. Finally, the other cases were canceled or declared not guilty. Nevertheless, Juan Collado’s tax case is still a complicated issue because recently, attempts to cancel it have been rejected.
At the same time, the Juan Collado scandal is still a subject of a heated dispute in Mexico. For the most part, it concerns the fact that the person was accused of extremely serious crimes at the beginning of the proceedings; however, in the end, the defendant was freed.