The former parish priest of Yaiza, Sixto Álvarez Marrero, testified this Monday in the Court of Instruction number 2 of Arrecife as being investigated for a crime of falsehood related to the awarding of scholarships that Luis Ramírez bequeathed to needy students from Lanzarote. Along with Álvarez, Ángel Asurmendi Martínez, Superior of Los Salesianos, is also being investigated, an order to which Luis Ramírez left part of his fortune with the commitment that it be used
Specifically, Sixto Álvarez and Ángel Asurmendi are accused of "the creation of an act different from the official one, including a person who had not submitted the corresponding application to access the scholarship for the municipality of Yaiza and who consequently could not meet the mandatory requirements to access it", also deciding to "modify the conditions for choosing the beneficiary".
It was the Majadas de Mina Association, which fought for these grants to be recovered after years without being awarded, who reported the events to the Court, after the student whom the Municipal Board of Yaiza designated as the beneficiary of the scholarship in 2018 contacted them stating that she had not received the money, which amounted to 500 euros.
"It is not known who the money went to"
"It is not known who the money went to", they have stated from the Majadas de Mina Association, from where they have stated that it is unknown "who was given that scholarship" because "that act was never shown to anyone" and "three weeks later he left as a priest" after hanging up the cassock.
"That is why we have taken it to the courts, so that they clarify and say why, through an alleged falsification of an act, it has been given to another person who did not even present themselves to the contest", they have pointed out from the group.
The mayor of Yaiza, as a witness
In addition to Sixto Álvarez, this Monday a statement has also been taken, although in this case as witnesses, from the mayor of Yaiza, Óscar Noda, and the justice of the peace of Yaiza, Evaristo García. And the municipal boards that are responsible for determining who is granted the scholarships are made up of the City Council, the Parish and the Justice of the Peace.
Likewise, in addition to the beneficiary student who did not receive her scholarship, the parish priest of San Bartolomé, Rafael Antonio Tejera, has also testified as a witness who, according to Majadas de Mina, is the "person in charge of contacting all the parish priests and sending the results". As for the Superior of Los Salesianos, Ángel Asurmendi, his statement as being investigated in the Court is scheduled to take place on January 30.