The Valencian Anti-Fraud Agency participates in a Crime Prevention Conference in the instrumental public sector

Press release

Valencia, March 24, 2022.- The Valencian Anti-Fraud Agency participated on March 24 in the Conference on “Prevention of crime in the instrumental public sector” organized by the Conselleria d’Hisenda de la Generalitat Valenciana.

The day had experts in the legal field, integrity and cybersecurity was followed by more than 70 people in person and by another 300 did it virtually.

The day was inaugurated by the Minister of Finance and Economic Model, Vicent Soler and Isabel Castelló, general director of Public Sector and Heritage of the Generalitat Valenciana. The first of the interventions was carried out by José Manuel García Duarte, general director of Information and Communications Technologies and Carmen Serrano Durbá, general subdirectorate of Cybersecurity who addressed the novelties in cybersecurity in a high-risk context such as the current one, as well as the professionalization in which cyberthreats have evolved.

Adrián Todolí, professor of labour law and social security at the University of Valencia, in his speech analysed the latest changes in labour regulations from the perspective of public and private law.

On behalf of the Valencian Anti-Fraud Agency, the head of the Prevention Service, Irene Bravo, participated, who explained the benefits of integrity plans for the instrumental public sector since it allows detecting risks and implementing strategic planning. He also released the Guide that the Agency has prepared along with other materials to help public institutions develop their public integrity plans.

The Director of Analysis and Investigation of the Agency, Gustavo Segura, also participated in the conference, who spoke about the complaint mailboxes, as well as the possibility of presenting anonymous complaints, as one of the most effective instruments in the fight against fraud and corruption.

The director of the Valencian Anti-Fraud Agency, Joan Llinares, was in charge of the closing of the day and pointed out that “the organization of this type of conference in collaboration with other institutions, such as in this case with the Conselleria d’Hisenda, allow us to find spaces to debate and reflect on the importance that ethics and public integrity have in the work carried out in our public administrations”.

“The existence of complaints boxes where people can warn about actions constituting fraud and corruption, and the adoption of prevention mechanisms so that they do not occur, are the pillars where this framework of public integrity should be based,” Llinares added.  

The director of the Anti-Fraud Office of Catalonia and the director of the Valencian Anti-Fraud Agency have signed an agreement to extend the framework collaboration agreement

Press release

The director of the Anti-Fraud Office of Catalonia, Miguel Ángel Gimeno, and the director of the Valencian Anti-Fraud Agency, Joan Llinares, have signed an agreement to extend the framework collaboration agreement that both institutions have maintained since 2018.

This agreement aims to maintain a permanent channel of collaboration and communication to improve efficiency in meeting objectives of common interest. Among other actions framed in this collaboration agreement are the sharing of information and practical experiences in the prevention and detection of corruption, the promotion of integrity and transparency both bilaterally and within the framework of the different forums in which both institutions participate.

The Ethics Committee of the Valencian Anti-Fraud Agency is constituted after the appointment of its members

Press release

Valencia, March 22,  2022.- On February 10, 2022, the Valencian Anti-Fraud Agency approved the Code of Ethics and Conduct for its staff that includes the ethical principles and values of good governance that must inform all the actions of the Agency and will regulate the impartiality, confidentiality and conduct that must necessarily be observed by the staff, especially with regard to the conflict of interest.

Chapter IV of the Code provides for the establishment of an Ethics Committee to ensure the proper application of the Code and to help resolve all disputes that may arise. Once the people who will be part of this Ethics Committee were appointed, it was constituted last week.

The Committee is made up of two persons from outside the AVAF who have been appointed for a period of four years on the proposal of the AVAF Board of Directors. They are Antonio Penadés Chust and  Mª Luisa Cuerda Arnau.

In the case of Antonio Penadés Chust, he is a member of the Participation Council of the Agency, thus complying with the provisions of Article 35, paragraphs 1 and 2, which states that the Committee will be formed by persons outside the AVAF, one of them being at least a member of the Participation Council.

For her part, Mª Luisa Cuerda Arnau is a professor of criminal law specializing in fundamental rights at the Jaume I University of Castellón.

The third member of the Ethics Committee who has been chosen from among the Agency’s own staff by vote is Amparo Martí Puertes, head of the Support and Expertise Unit.

With the appointments of these persons, article 6.3 is also complied with, which states that the Committee will be composed of a maximum of four people, three of them external from among professionals of recognized prestige in the field of the defense of public ethics, integrity and transparency, among which, at least one will be a jurist and another chosen among the staff of the Agency.

Among the functions of the Ethics Committee are to ensure compliance with the Code of Ethics and Conduct: to promote its dissemination and internalization by the beneficiaries; to inform about the doubts or queries that may arise in the cases of interpretation of the Code; to attend to the internal complaints referred to in the Code; to formulate recommendations on breaches of the Code or to prepare an annual report in which it is explained the degree of compliance with the Code.

The Code of Ethics is available on the Agency’s website and can be accessed via this link:

https://dogv.gva.es/datos/2022/02/18/pdf/2022_1132.pdf