The city council of Alaquàs and the Valencian Anti-Fraud Agency sign a protocol to launch the complaint boxes and the integrity plan

The Mayor of Alaquàs, Toni Saura, and the director of the Valencian Anti-Fraud Agency, Joan Llinares, have signed this week a collaboration protocol between both institutions that will help promote the Integrity Plan in which the City Council of Alaquàs is working.

Within the general lines of the Integrity Plan, the implementation of both internal and external complaint boxes is contemplated, thus complying with the requirement of the new Law 2/2023 regulating the protection of people who report on regulatory infractions and the fight against corruption.

With this Law published in the BOE on February 21, the European Directive 1937/2019 on the protection of persons who report breaches of Union Law, better known as the Whistleblowers Directive, is transposed into the Spanish legal system.

The City Council of Alaquàs will enable as an external channel of complaints the mailbox of complaints of the Valencia Antifraud Agency which will be visible on the municipal website. This mailbox guarantees the confidentiality of the complainants and allows the possibility of being able to make the complaints anonymously.

The collaboration between both institutions will also extend to other actions and activities such as those of a formative nature through which the staff of the city council will receive training in aspects related to the promotion of ethics and public integrity, as well as the prevention and detection of situations constituting fraud and corruption.

The Integrity Plan of the City Council of Alaquàs will contain, among others, an institutional declaration of integrity; incorporating institutional integrity into strategic planning; enabling a dedicated internal whistleblowing channel and connecting it to the Agency’s external whistleblowing channel; the regulation and management of conflicts of interest; the training of City Council staff in the field of integrity or the promotion and dissemination of the culture of ethics and public integrity.

The Mayor of Alaquàs, Toni Saura, highlighted the commitment of Alaquàs City Council to “continue working to implement the Integrity Plan with the aim of protecting public service, pursuing the general interests of citizens and ensuring compliance with values, principles and ethical standards in the public sector”.

For his part, the director of the Agency, Joan Llinares, has declared that “compliance with the requirement of external complaint mailboxes in the Valencian Community can be easily resolved by having in our case an Anti-Fraud Agency and for this it is only necessary that each administration, company or institution includes next to its internal complaints mailbox the address of the external complaint mailbox of the Agency. The Agency offers assistance and advice in the implementation of both external and internal mailboxes and the only requirement is to sign a protocol regulating such collaboration”.

The signing of the agreement was also attended by the City Council of Alaquàs the municipal secretary, Alberto Buendía; and on behalf of the Agency, the Deputy Director of Legal Affairs, Teresa Clemente; the director of analysis and research, Gustavo Segura and the head of the administration and human resources area, María José Cervera.

The Síndic de Greuges and the Valencian Anti-Fraud Agency sign a collaboration protocol for the implementation of their complaint boxes and protection of whistleblowers of corruption

Valencia, June 28, 2023.- The Síndic de Greuges of the Valencian Community, Ángel Luna, and the director of the Valencian Anti-Fraud Agency, Joan Llinares, have signed a collaboration protocol between both institutions with the aim of complying with the requirements of the new Law 2/2023 on the protection of people reporting corruption,  better known as the Whistleblowing law.

Among the actions that will be implemented within the framework of this collaboration is the one that Síndic de Greuges will provide as an external communication channel the Agency’s complaints mailbox that will appear in a visible place on its website.

The Agency shall assist and advise on the implementation of the technology necessary to connect to the Agency’s reporting box; in the establishment of the internal information channel, in measures of support and protection for whistleblowers of corruption and in the realization of training actions.

The director of the Agency, Joan Llinares, has declared that “the signing of this agreement between the Síndic de Greuges and the Agency is an example of the collaboration between institutions to work together not only in the prevention and fight against fraud and corruption but also in the creation of ethics and public integrity”.

 

The Valencia Anti-Fraud Agency facilitates the recovery of 29 million euros in 3 years and keeps 30 individuals and 1 legal person (company) protected

Valencia, June 23, 2023. Today, June 23, is the World Day of the Whistleblower of Corruption and the Agency has organized for this reason a day to commemorate this celebration that coincides with the enactment this year of Law 2/2023 on the protection of the whistleblower of corruption. 

The main conference of the day was given by Alba Lema, international president of the World Compliance Association. Alba Lema specializes in the implementation of compliance management systems as well as in the design and implementation of integrity and business ethics programs in organizations, both nationally and internationally.

This was followed by a round table moderated by the Agency’s Deputy Director of Legal Affairs, Teresa Clemente, with the participation of Arturo León, President of the Economic and Social Committee (ESC); Ana Móner, vice president of the Valencian Association of Consumers (AVACU), and Juan Vega, lawyer of the Agency.

The director of the Agency, Joan Llinares, opened the conference and highlighted “the importance of a day like today in which we want to value the fundamental role played by people who alert, report or report fraud and corruption”. “The Agency was the first authority in Spain to have a Protection Statute for whistleblowers of corruption and currently has 30 individuals and one legal person (company) under protection,” added Llinares.

“This effective protection of whistleblowers, together with the more than 29 million euros of recoverable amounts in the last 3 years, are undoubtedly the best guarantees of the work carried out by the Agency. To this we have to add all that intangible value that cannot be quantified in money derived from the training and prevention actions that the Agency carries out in terms of ethics and public integrity.  How many people have not committed an act of fraud and corruption knowing that there is an Agency that can investigate and prosecute this type of action?” concluded Llinares.