Where is Pedro Pascal's father now? José Balmaceda was indicted in the 1995 UC Irvine fertility scandal
SANTA ANA, CALIFORNIA: Pedro Pascal is a popular name in the tinsel town now. The Chilean-American actor has starred in many famous shows, like ‘The Mandalorian', ‘Game of Thrones', and ‘The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent’. Pedro will also be soon seen in ‘The Last of Us’, which will start airing on HBO on January 15.
With his stardom on the rise, the actor's fans are eager to know about his personal details. Pedro is not married yet, and it's his family, especially his parents, who seem to have ignited people's curiosity.
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Who are Pedro Pascal's parents?
Pedro is the son of Verónica Pascal and José Balmaceda Riera. While his mother is not alive, his fertility doctor father is a controversial figure who was one of many involved in the 1995 UC Irvine fertility scandal. A report by the Orange County Register said that the scandal was about “the switching of frozen embryos of women without their knowledge.”
It also involved tax fraud as “nearly $1 million in clinic income had not been reported. That was believed to include tens of thousands of dollars in cash payments from patients that were allegedly pocketed by doctors.” Eventually, José along with his colleagues Ricardo Hector Asch and Sergio Stone was indicted on mail fraud and income tax evasion charges.
However, before his conviction, the father of the ‘Narcos’ actor fled the US and went back to his home country, Chile. But years later in 2022, he reportedly returned and in a plea deal confessed he “under-reported his taxes in 1991 and 1992, as part of a scheme in which he and other doctors at the UC Irvine fertility clinic took cash from some clients and didn’t report the income,” The Orange County Register stated.
The March 2022 report also added that “Balmaceda’s surrender was the result of negotiations between prosecutors and his attorney, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, and he is currently out of custody on a $750,000 bond.”
José is a proud father
Despite the murky past, it seems Pedro and his father are close to each other. In 2021, José reportedly said, “We have a family WhatsApp group called ‘Abuelo Pepe’, where Pedro and the rest of the family communicate. There we discussed things, we send each other photos, we talk from grandchildren to politics.”
The old man also revealed that he’s a big fan of his son as he added, “It is a very great honor, although one begins to get used to it. In any case, it is always exciting to see him on the screen, to be able to recognize his performance between his gestures. I find it interesting to watch.”