Institutional integrity and complaints mailboxes, the contributions of the AVAF, in the conference on “Crime prevention in the instrumental public sector” of the Ministry of Finance and Economic Model of the Generalitat Valenciana.

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On Thursday, March 24, 2022, the Valencian Anti-Fraud Agency intervened in the conference organized by the General Directorate of the Public Sector that took place in the auditorium of the Administrative City 9 d’Octubre of València.

The day was followed by 70 people in person and more than 300 connected through the GVA channel.

AVAF’s interventions focused on the analysis of the legal framework in matters of public integrity by Irene Bravo, head of the Prevention Service, and the need to have general regulations for complaint mailboxes in public sector organizations, through the intervention of Gustavo Segura, Director of Analysis and Research of the Agency.

Irene Bravo detailed the obligations established for public administrations in Order HFP/1030/2021, of September 29, which configures the management system of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan, such as, for example, the declaration institutional, DACI, risk self-assessment, as well as the separation of management, control and payment functions.

In this sense, the AVAF advocates for the specific control of the management of public funds against any type of irregularity with the aim of protecting the public service mission of the public administration and for the development of fraud indicators and alerts, red flags, which act as a risk detection tool in organizations.

The benefits of integrity plans for the instrumental public sector were the subject of special attention, highlighting the need to detect the areas of activities and procedures likely to incur risks, and promote strategic planning practices, among others.

The content of the AVAF Guide was highlighted, aimed at building a public integrity system, reinforcing citizen trust, which goes beyond recommendations for proper management of European funds and is aimed at improving the integrity mechanisms of the Public Management.

Finally, Irene Bravo exposed some of the specific risks that can develop in the instrumental public sector in general and in terms of contracting, as well as in the management of human resources and subsidies.

In another order of things, the Director of Analysis and Investigation has focused his intervention on the complaint mailboxes and information systems, and has done so by comparing Directive 2019/1937 and the draft law approved by the Council of Ministers of the past March 4, 2022 by which the transposition of the same to the Spanish legal system begins.

The preliminary draft establishes the possibility of submitting anonymous communications, this being the highest level of protection that exists for the whistleblower/informant in terms of their identity (art. 7.3 APL).

The existence of a complaints mailbox is imperative for all public sector entities with their own legal personality. Among the issues of the bill, it is worth highlighting:

  • The preference in the use of the internal or external complaints box will be marked by the whistleblower, with his decision when communicating a risk of irregularity.
  • The administrative body or governing body of each entity and obligated body will be responsible for the implementation of the internal information system, after consultation with the legal representation of the workers (art.5 APL).
  • The management of internal information systems may be carried out within the entity or body itself or by going to an external third party. (art.6 APL) All internal information channels will be integrated into the internal information system.
  • The States may provide that several municipalities share internal complaint channels or be managed by joint municipal authorities, provided that these shared internal channels are differentiated and autonomous from the external complaint channels, requiring national regulatory development.
  • The draft bill regulates that municipalities with less than 10,000 inhabitants may share internal information systems, investigations and procedures, both among themselves and with any other public administrations in the territory of their autonomous community. (art. 14 APL).

The conference aimed at the heads, managers and internal auditors of the organizations that make up the Valencian instrumental public sector, was inaugurated with the presence and interventions of the Minister of Finance and Economic Model, Vicent Soler, and were coordinated by Isabel Castelló, director General Public Sector and Heritage.

The session was closed by the director of the Agency, Joan Llinares, who thanked all the interventions in the morning and their importance in advancing prevention measures in such important matters as cybersecurity, labor regulations, the fight against corruption through public integrity and complaint mailboxes.

The Valencian Anti-Fraud Agency arrives at the International University of Valencia with a debate on corruption and its consequences

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The first AVAF university Docufòrum was held at the International University of Valencia with third-year students of the Business Administration Degree.

The AVAF develops training actions to offer knowledge and civic awareness, especially to future professionals, and foster a culture of prevention and fight against any conduct that encourages corruption.

On this occasion, the activity, carried out online, has taken place in the Faculty of Social and Legal Sciences of the International University of Valencia with students of the Tax Management II subject.

In the first session of the Docufòrum, the students had seen the documentary “Corruption: Harmful Organism”, and, in the second, answering the questions raised by the documentary, the head of the AVAF Training Service, focused the intervention in the origin and causes of corruption, the effect and collective costs that it generates (economic, in institutional quality and in public morals), the perception of corruption in our society and with respect to other countries in our environment, what to do in cases of corruption.

During the debate with the students, issues such as public ethics and integrity, anti-corruption public policy strategies, social and criminal punishment in cases of corruption, as well as the functions and work of the Valencian Agency were also discussed. Anti fraud.

The students also asked about the differences that exist in European countries in the fight against and perception of corruption, in the regulatory development of the Valencian Community in the matter in recent years, and in the relationship that may exist between tax offenses and fraud and public corruption.

This activity has been organized in collaboration with the International University of Valencia, which we thank for its interest and willingness to help create a culture of public integrity and rejection of fraud and corruption.

If you are a University, Secondary or Baccalaureate teacher and you are interested in having the training activity “Docufòrum: Corruption, harmful organism” carried out in your subject, do not hesitate to contact the Valencian Agency Training Service Anti-fraud through formacio@antifraucv.es.

The director of the Valencian Anti-Fraud Agency debates with the students of the Faculty of Law of the University of Valencia

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On March 21, a new university docufòrum of the Valencian Anti-Fraud Agency was held. On this occasion, the activity took place in the Hall of Degrees of the Faculty of Law of the University of Valencia, with second-year students of the double degree in Law and Criminology, with the assistance of 72 students of the subject of Constitutional Law II, of which Vicenta Tasa Fuster and Diego González Cadenas are professors.

After seeing the documentary “Corruption: Harmful Organism”, the students take part in the training experience, through reflections and questions that refer to its origin and the causes of corruption, the effect and collective costs it generates in economic terms, institutional quality and public morality.

On this occasion, the director of the Valencian Anti-Fraud Agency (AVAF), Joan Llinares, led the debate with the students, answered their doubts and insisted on the need to advance in public ethics and integrity, claiming the value and importance of society civil society and citizenship in the fight against corruption.

Likewise, in the debate, it was highlighted that in order to fight against corruption it is necessary to break with a law of silence and complacency that is socially deeply rooted and it is necessary to be very aware that corruption eliminates the rights and opportunities of a life worthy of citizenship. And, in the same way, the importance of prevention and of a framework of integrity was underlined because corruption encounters greater difficulties, and because a new ethical culture can emerge in social terms.

The students have shown interest in anti-corruption measures at different levels: regional, state and European, as well as the causes and consequences. Many of the questions have also focused on the functions of the AVAF and showed concern about the current regulatory systems to fight corruption. Issues that have served to explain the policies and measures to combat corruption and the progress made in the Valencian Community in recent years, as well as all the work that remains to be done in the social and institutional sphere.

The AVAF develops training actions to offer knowledge and civic awareness, especially to future professionals, and foster a culture of prevention and fight against any conduct that encourages corruption.

This activity has been organized in collaboration with the University of Valencia, to which we thank for their interest and willingness to help create a culture of public integrity and rejection of fraud and corruption.

If you were a university, secondary or high school teacher and you are interested in the “Docufòrum” training activity, based on the audiovisuals of the Corruption Agency: harmful organism, Conflict of interest or Planning, being carried out in your subject, do not hesitate to contact the Training Service of the Valencian Antifraud Agency through formacion@antifraucv.es.