The rector of the Autonomous University of Sinaloa (UAS), Jesús Madueña Molina, has been linked to a criminal case involving an alleged defendant Irregular purchase of tortillas worth 45 million pesos for student residences when they were closed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Also the former rector Juan Eulogio Guerra Liera and the university’s acquisition committee They were in connection with a case for the same crime after a hearing that lasted two days.
According to the Sinaloa State Attorney General’s Office, all have been approved the purchase of tortillas in 2020, 2021 and 2022 to be delivered to students’ homes, However, due to the pandemic, they were not occupied by any student during this period and some of them were found in an abandoned condition.
In addition, the authorities presented evidence that the purchases, e.g 45 million of pesos, were carried out through direct award to a single supplier, in their case they would have had to participate in a public tender and some invoices from this period tried to be canceled in August 2023, when they had already started the procedure against them.
Considering all the evidence presented as valid for the initiation of a trial, the controlling judge imposed, as a precautionary measure, a ban on leaving the country without authorization and the need to go to the court every month and a half to sign.
The same people have scheduled another hearing for next October 11th alleged irregular purchase of more than 77 million pesos for meat and chicken, between 2019 and 2023.
Already at the end of August, the rector of the University of Applied Sciences, Jesús Madueña Molina, had been involved in proceedings for abuse of office by being denied access to the employees of the Supreme State Audit Office who wanted to carry out an investigation into the university’s finances.
Given this situation, the Rector of the University of Applied Sciences expected to convene an extraordinary meeting of the University Council to analyze the cases and make decisions in this regard.
Recalling that a few days earlier, Roberspierre Lizárraga, who served as the institution’s director of legal affairs and is also involved in one of the processes, was appointed Secretary General of the UAS to take control of the university if the authorities requested it As a precautionary measure, the removal of the rector from office.
