After presenting the complaint to the Prosecutor’s Office, councilor Manuel ‘Mamén’ Saavedra reported that certain authorities were also requested to extend theto investigation on irregular collections in public cemeteries.
“You cannot cover the sun with a finger,” remarked the municipal authority, who this Friday filed a criminal lawsuit against a lawyer, former municipal official, who usurped functions in the Directorate of Cemeteries and made illegal charges to the neighbors so that the niches and mausoleums are not reverted to them.
“We ask the Public Ministry to investigate the one who asked for the money, the cemetery supervisor, the director of the cemetery and finally, the boss of all of them, the mayor (Jhonny Fernández)Saavedra said.
Likewise, he pointed out that the fact is that there was a person who was not a municipal official, attending from the municipal offices, occupying equipment and asking for money to avoid the reversion of the spaces in the cemeteries. “This lawyer was in charge of doing procedures, which usually take between two and three weeks, in a matter of just three days. The question is who allowed it?”, questioned the mayor of Democrats.
The crimes for which the lawyer was accused are: criminal association, improper use of influence, benefit by reason of position, fraud under the pretext of remuneration to public officials, improper use of public goods and services, among others.
The councilor indicated that it was requested a report to the Directorate of Cemeteries, To find out who authorized this person to operate from those offices, who is responsible, the list of reversal cases in the last year and the reasons were also requested.
As for the way this lawyer operated, according to Mamén, he went to the cemeteries to notify with a sign intervened. The relatives of the deceased went to the Directorate of Cemeteries, there the officials referred them to the lawyer, he initially asked between Bs 150 and 200 for a memorial, But only half of the problem was solved. To settle the matter, he asked for another document, but for Bs 4,500 or Bs 4,800. Through the latter, the resolution was issued that guaranteed the mourners that their relatives would remain buried in their niches.
On Friday, the municipal director of Transparency, Isabel Fernández, led an investigative operation in this case, even she, along with other officials, intervened in the Cemeteries Directorate.
The head of Transparency reported that it would be a person who worked for a time in the Santa Cruz commune named Samuel Hugo Atristain, who also had already been denounced by the Directorate of Cemeteries for the crime of usurpation of functions.
He added that, if the case warrants it, does not rule out initiating criminal proceedings against all the people involved, since the instruction of Mayor Jhonny Fernández is not to tolerate any act of corruption“whoever that fails”.