"The grandparents were starving": more than fifty years in prison requested for those responsible for a nursing home in Sant Quirze

BarcelonaFor at least eight months, the 24 elderly people admitted to the Santlisart residence in Sant Quirze del Vallès were fed with meals that would correspond to eighteen people. From September 2015 to April 2016, there is no record of any payment for breakfast or snacks in the accounts of the nursing home. The centre only spent 4.90 euros on food per person per day, half the average among nursing homes at that time. "It was absolutely insufficient, we considered that we should report it to the Public Prosecutor's Office," said an inspector from the Generalitat in the trial that began this Tuesday in the Court of Barcelona. The sentences to which the four accused are exposed exceed fifty years in prison.

The accused are two managers of the nursing home and two others from the catering company, who allegedly conspired to enrich themselves at the expense of the health of the users. When the alarm went off, the residents were moved to another centre. The reports from the new carers show that the 21 elderly people who remained in the centre were malnourished. One woman weighed only 33.6 kilos. In addition, the same reports show serious lack of hygiene and dehydration. "Most of them arrived starving and were surprised when the new assistants asked them if they wanted a second meal," says the prosecution's indictment.

The prosecution is asking for up to 47 years for the alleged crimes of fraud, falsification of documents and abandonment, while the private prosecution is asking for even higher sentences on behalf of the complainants who alerted the social services of the Generalitat in the first instance. They are a married couple, partners in the group that owns the residence, who saw how their partners (now accused) gained power by doing and undoing what they wanted after the retirement of two other partners.

Fraud of thousands of euros

The Santlisart nursing home had been accredited as a collaborating entity of the Generalitat since 2009, and had public funding for 22 of the 24 places in the nursing home. After several disciplinary proceedings, the Government revoked its collaboration. The Prosecutor's Office believes that the money that the nursing home saved on meals - and therefore earned at the expense of the Generalitat - fluctuated between 1,100 and 1,500 euros each month, with a peak of 4,489 euros in a single month.

The trial will last three more days, spaced out, until March 11. However, the first session has already revealed the main card of the defense, which has appealed to alleged defects in the investigation to argue that the victims that can be included in the case would not be 21 but almost half, 12.