Investigations by the Prosecutor’s Office link a former Colombian National Team soccer player with Clan del Golfo for luxurious properties in Armenia and Filandia.
The former player of the Colombian national team and Deportes Quindío, Elkin Murillo, is at the center of an investigation being carried out by the Prosecutor’s Office for the purchase of properties related to William Guillermo Zapata, alias “Yemo”, brother of John Fredy Zapata Garzón alias “Messi”, head of finance of the Gulf Clan, the latter captured on a farm in Filandia in 2021.
According to the newspaper El Tiempo, the properties in question were acquired by Elkin Antonio Murillo in two movements. In 2017, he purchased the land called “La Esmeralda” from Inversiones Inmobiliarias del Café SAS, initially owned by “Messi” and later transferred to his brother “Yemo”.
Four years later, on December 17, 2021, the company in the hands of “Yemo” sold the property to former soccer player Elkin Murillo for 261 million pesos, which he paid in cash.
In another movement, in the Fourth Notary of Armenia, the same company sold the former soccer player a house located on Calle 10 Norte with Carrera 13 in the capital of Quindío, for 245 million pesos. This property had previously been sold by Carlos Eduardo Osorio Buriticá, former governor of Quindío, for 126 million pesos to Inversiones Inmobiliarias del Café SAS. Four years later, Elkin Murillo acquired it.
The authorities point out that Murillo bought all the properties at prices well below commercial values, paying a total of 1,182 million pesos for properties that could have cost up to 12,672 million pesos. Currently, the four assets in Murillo’s name are in the process of asset forfeiture.
Murillo’s version: he denies contributions from the Zapatas to their training school in Filandia
Regarding the investigation, the former player who currently has a soccer school in Filandia also spoke out when consulted by El Tiempo.
“I bought those assets in 2021. This boy (William Zapata) was not wanted by justice, it seems strange to me that a year later they seized some assets that already appeared in my name”Murillo commented to the aforementioned newspaper.
Regarding his alleged link with ‘Yemo’, he stated that “I knew him as a businessman and playing, one is a soccer person and they invite him everywhere to play. That was here in Armenia, at a friends’ game. “We had had contact in the sense of the passion of football,” he pointed.
According to Murillo’s testimony, none of the Zapata brothers made investments in their school and he maintained that it is an injustice that their assets are affected.
“It is unfair that, if I sell something to you, and a year later I show up with a problem, they are going to take away what you bought with so much effort,” he concluded.
It is worth mentioning that Murillo had a successful football career having the honor of being champion of the 2001 Copa América with Colombia and having a fruitful time in Colombian football teams such as Deportes Quindío, Deportivo Cali and Atlético Nacional where he was champion in 2007.
