Oct82019

The Participation Council of the Agency for the Prevention and Fight against Fraud and Corruption of the Valencian Community is constituted

On Friday, October 4, 2019, the constitutive session of the Participation Council, advisory and consultation body of the Valencian Anti-Fraud Agency and channel for the participation of civil society and of experts, within the field of prevention and fight against fraud and corruption, transparency in public activity and democratic quality, in order to better fulfill the functions and purposes of the Agency.

On Friday, October 4, 2019, the constitutive session of the Participation Council took place in the chapter room of the Center del Carme Cultura Contemporània,

advisory and consultative body of the Valencian Agency Antifraud and channel for the participation of civil society and experts, within the field of prevention and fight against fraud and corruption, transparency in public activity and democratic quality, in order to better fulfill the functions and purposes of the Agency.

The purpose of this Citizen Participation Council is to promote the Valencian Anti-Fraud Agency’s relationship with civil society and citizens, facilitating their communication and relationship.

Its functions include, among others, advising the Agency on the general lines, objectives and specific initiatives deemed appropriate; the preparation of reports, proposals and recommendations for the prevention of fraud, the fight against corruption and the promotion of a culture of good practices, integrity and public ethics in Valencian public institutions; the evaluation of the fulfillment of the functions and purposes entrusted to the Valencian Antifraud Agency, and its results; the strengthening of relations with Valencian society through the establishment of channels of participation and collaboration; and the promotion of spaces for debate, meeting, reflection and exchange of information and experiences.

The Participation Council, regulated in the Agency’s internal regulations and operating regulations of June 27, 2019, in its title VI, which includes articles 24 to 26, is chaired by the director of the Agency, by twelve integrated members by representatives of civic organizations of a social nature that work against fraud and corruption in the Valencian Community or have among their purposes the transparency of public activity, good governance and the defense of the rights of citizens, and by four other voices more designated among expert and independent people, of recognized prestige and whose trajectory or legal, academic and social activity is related to the functions and purposes of the Valencian Anti-Fraud Agency.

ASSISTANTS

Specifically, the following people have attended the meeting, representing civic organizations of a social nature:

Mr. Jesús Sánchez Lambás, Secretary of Transparency International Spain.

Mr. Miguel Falomir Sorio, Vice President of the Valencian Association of Consumers and Users.

Mrs. Antonia Ferrer Sapena, Vice President of Tactical Whistleblower.

Mrs. Ana María Fuertes Eugenio, General Director of Fundación por la Justicia.

Mr. Juan Carlos Galindo Gómez, Executive President of the Spanish Association for Obliged Subjects in the Prevention of Money Laundering.

Mr. Rafael Luis García Meseguer, Alertadores Against Corruption – Whistle Blower.

Mr. Baltasar Garzón Real, President of the International Baltasar Garzón Foundation.

Mr. Peter Matjašič, Senior Program Officer of the Open Society Initative for Europe.

Mr. Laia Mauri Folgado, partner of the Observatori Ciutadà contra la Corrupció.

Mr. Antonio Penadés Chusp, President of Civic Action against Corruption.

Mrs. Azahara Peralta Bravo, member of the Platform for Honesty.

Mr. José Ribera Facundo, coordinator of relations with other associations of the Platform Ciutadana Castelló per la Justícia i Contra la Corrupció.

Likewise, the four elected members of the Participation Council attended the meeting, namely:

Mr. Hervé Falciani, President of the Tactical Whistleblower association.

Mrs. Vanesa Felip Torrent, President of the College of Secretaries, Auditors and Treasurers of the Local Administration of Valencia.

Mr. Fernando Jiménez Sánchez, professor of Political Science and Administration at the University of Murcia.

Mrs. Consuelo Vidal Hernandis, President of the association Observatori Ciutadà contra la Corrupció.

Also present was Mr. Francisco Gaspar Latorre, territorial coordinator of the Union of Technicians of the Ministry of Finance, as a guest entity.

TREATED MATTERS

In this first session of the Participation Council, in which said body has been formally constituted, the civic organizations then elected the person who will occupy the Vice Presidency, the Council of the Activity of the Agency, on the part of its director, have dealt with various points on which some members of the Council have shown their interest and concerns, and it has been proposed to form some working groups within the Council to deal with specific issues.

The Vice Presidency of the Participation Council fell to Dª. Ana María Fuertes Eugenio, representing the Foundation for Justice.

All those attending the meeting celebrated the constitution of this advisory and participatory body, a pioneer within the Spanish scene, and have expressed their commitment and willingness to collaborate in the fight against corruption and eradication of fraud in our institutions and public administrations, as well as its special concern for the need to carry out prevention and education tasks in this area, concentrating efforts that allow a true multiplier effect.

In this regard, it has been agreed to create two working groups that will make it possible to agree on common strategies within the scope of the protection of whistleblowers, and also in prevention and public ethics.

The conclusions of the aforementioned working groups will be transferred, in addition to the full Council itself, to the European Network of Agencies for the Fight against Fraud and Corruption EPAC (The European Partners against Corruption, European Partners against corruption), of the which is part of the Valencian Anti-Fraud Agency.

The composition of the plenary session of the Participation Council, which will meet at least twice a year, will be published in the coming days in the Official Butlletí de les Corts and in the Official Gazette of the Generalitat Valenciana.

RULES AND RELATED DOCUMENTS

For further information you can reach to gabinete@antifraucv.es or by telephone 962 787 450

Links of interest:
Press release

València, October 7 2019

Oct72019

Approval of the European Union Directive on the protection of persons who report corruption and others

On October 7, 2019, the European Council unanimously approved the European Union Directive on the protection of persons who report acts or conduct of corruption, infractions and irregularities. Shortly, the legislative act will be formally signed and published in the Official Journal of the European Union, and from this moment on, Spain will have two years for its transposition (term that will end in 2021).

Finally, throughout the Spanish territory, the law will protect the complainants and provide them with legal advice, reversing the burden of proof against dismissals, demotion and other forms of retaliation, which will guarantee the effectiveness of their rights ensuring their full indemnity . It will also protect whistleblowers in legal proceedings, from fraud, corruption, tax evasion or damage to the health of people and the environment. In addition, it will include the imposition of fines on retaliators and the requirement that member states inform citizens about the complaint procedures and the type of protection they can avail of, and must designate a public authority responsible in this area.

Likewise, the new European regulations establish a system of internal and external reporting channels, both in the public and private sectors. The complainant may contact authorities outside the organization if the appropriate measures are not taken within the organization, or there is an imminent or manifest danger to the public interest, or when he presumes that the complaint to his superiors will have no effect because they are the authors of the the facts reported or are in collusion with them.

Many countries of the European Union already have within their legal system a specific law or a system and tools to protect whistleblowers. Thus, among others, Belgium, Holland, United Kingdom, Ireland, Sweden, Greece, Hungary, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Slovakia or Romania.

Italy and France created their own national authorities against corruption and whistleblower protection, respectively, through laws of 2012 and 2016. These are institutions that act with full organic and functional independence from public administrations in the exercise of their functions, to which is attributed its own legal personality and full capacity to act for the fulfillment of its purposes, at the head of which is a president who is elected by the legislative body.

THE VALENCIAN COMMUNITY ADVANCES THE EUROPEAN DIRECTIVE

The Valencian Community anticipated the European Directive and the Spanish State itself, with the approval and entry into force of Law 11/2016, of November 28, of the Generalitat, of the Agency for the Prevention and Fight against Fraud and the Corruption, issued in compliance with the 2003 United Nations Convention; international convention that, despite having been ratified by the Spanish State and being part of our legal system since its publication in the Official State Gazette in 2006, has been inapplicable.

The Valencian Anti-Fraud Agency is the institution responsible in the Valencian Community for the protection and assistance to people who report corruption, endowed with sanctioning power to impose fines, ranging between 200 and 400,000 euros, to those who disturb their working life or whistleblowers, or hinder the Agency’s tasks.

Since the beginning of its activity in the second half of 2017, the Agency has protected nineteen whistleblowers; most of them public officials, whose complaints have led to the opening of criminal judicial proceedings that are in process.

In addition, the Agency performs functions of investigation of complaints, as well as prevention, training and awareness-raising in integrity and public ethics, in matters of public procurement and concessions, access and provision of public employment, subsidies, urban planning or public assets, derived from action of the public administrations of our territory (autonomous and local), and its public sector, contractors, concessionaires, recipients of subsidies and of any entity, even private, that receives public funds or is subject to the decision-making power of public administrations.

The Valencian Community, endowed with legislation that is even more advanced than the Directive itself, is the only one in the entire Spanish territory that grants protection status to individuals or legal entities, who denounce acts or conduct, presumably fraudulent or corrupt, that may give rise to the requirement of legal responsibilities, whether the complaint is filed with the Agency itself or any other administrative body, or with the Public Prosecutor’s Office or the judicial authority. For these purposes, the complainants are assimilated, all those who alert or reveal information of this type, as well as the witnesses and experts, and the relatives and people around them if they suffer risk of retaliation or threat as a result of the information. provided.

THE SECURE AND CONFIDENTIAL COMPLAINT BOX

Since May 2018, the Agency has made a secure and confidential complaint mailbox available to the public, which admits anonymous complaints, so that those who have knowledge of this type of facts or conduct, communicate it in order to proceed to your analysis and research. This mailbox also operates as a virtual portal for the public official. The mailbox can be accessed through the Agency’s own web portal www.antifraucv.es.

However, complaints can also be made by email, by regular mail or in person at the Agency’s offices at Calle Navellos, no. 14, pta. 3, of València, CP 46003.

Finally, it should be noted that the implementation of the Directive will result in important reforms in our legal system: it will not only require the approval of a specific law to combat corruption and its harmonization with regional legislation, in order to coordinate and cooperate with the structures that are in operation, but also the revision of the Organic Law for the protection of witnesses and experts in criminal cases, the Penal Code, the General Penitentiary Organic Law, the Criminal Procedure Law, and numerous regulatory norms of the sector private and certain areas of the public sector (regulations on competition, consumption, public health, food safety, transport security, money laundering, terrorism, personal data, etc.).

RULES AND RELATED DOCUMENTS

For further information you can reach gabinete@antifraucv.es  or by telephone 962 787 450

Official Press Release 7.10.19
Voting result

València, October 72019

Links of interest

Board voting results
Better protection for whistleblowers: new rules across the EU from 2021

Press release

Jul92019
Signatura conveni entre Táctical i l'Agència

Signing of the collaboration agreement between the Valencian Antifraud Agency and the Whistleblower Tactical Association

Today, July 9, the Valencian Anti-Fraud Agency, represented by its Director, Joan A. Llinares, and the Tactical Whistleblower Association, represented by its President, the systems engineer Mr. Hervé Falciani, have signed a collaboration agreement to establish a permanent channel of communication and joint work in order to improve efficiency in meeting objectives of common interest.

It should be noted that Tactical Whistleblower is a non-profit association established in Spain that was born with the vocation of promoting ethics and institutional security, both public and private through research and the application of technologies such as “blockchain” and others already developed or on process of development.

The Valencian Antifraud Agency considers among its objectives the realization of preventive plans that reduce the risks that, in the field of administrations and the public sector, may involve fraudulent or corrupt bad practices.

Thus, studies are being carried out on the potential of technological infrastructures that allow increasing the effective control of aspects such as contracting, subsidies or concessions, thanks to the traceability and transparency in the public bidding processes and the derived expense, especially in everything that refers to the verified and real execution of works, services and supplies as well as the effective fulfillment of the obligations related to public subsidies.

This Framework Agreement, without economic content, from which legal instruments can be derived for carrying out activities, establishes in its clauses the modalities of collaboration and the way in which they will be established.

A joint monitoring commission is also created. The Agreement is valid for four years, with the possibility of an extension of four additional years.

Among the collaboration modalities of the Agreement the following should be highlighted:

•Establish collaboration for the introduction, development and implementation of technological applications that facilitate the fight against fraud and corruption in the areas of contracting, subsidies and public concessions.

• Cooperate in training programs for technical, administrative and service personnel.

• Collaborate jointly in the areas of technical cooperation and technology transfer, as well as in training matters for analysts and specialized personnel in data analysis and in other technological fields.

• Work together so that the implementation in all its public administrations of this traceability technological tool is contemplated in the legal framework of the Valencian Community, once it is finished.

It is important to highlight, from the Valencian Anti-Fraud Agency, that the celebration of this Agreement with the Tactical Whistleblower Association has a special relevance, considering that Tactical Whistleblower is chaired by Mr. Hervé Falciani, who is known to be a complainant of fraud and corruption. and that he is actively collaborating with the justice of several countries, including Spain, contributing his knowledge about millionaire fraud.

The so-called “Falciani List” has served, since 2010, to uncover fraud mechanisms, which has facilitated the identification of alleged tax evaders and corrupt plots, having recently been validated by the Constitutional Court as a means of legal evidence.

Likewise, the National High Court considered it proven that the information provided by Mr. Falciani has served to reveal criminal situations and that without his collaboration an effective investigation would not have been possible. Mr. Falciani has been an essential element in explaining how the dense network of money used in corruption works.

For the Valencian Antifraud Agency it is a privilege to have collaborators such as Mr. Falciani and the association that he presides to develop their functions of prevention, investigation, training and fight against fraud and corruption in the Valencian Community.

 Agreement
 DOGV num. 8604 / 1.08.2019
 BOCV num. 18 / 31.07.2019