Mar302026

The Valencian Anti-Fraud Agency discusses its work as an institution for the control, prevention and protection of whistleblowers at the CEU Cardenal Herrera University

Alfara del Patriarca, 30 March 2026.– The Valencian Anti-Fraud Agency (AVAF) maintains its training strategy in institutional integrity through the holding of a new #DocuforumAVAF at the CEU Cardenal Herrera University to raise awareness among future legal personnel.

 

The session, aimed at second-year students of the Bachelor’s Degree in Law, made it possible to address in a practical way the main challenges linked to public integrity, with special attention to the systems for the protection of whistleblowers, in line with the regulatory changes promoted in Spain in recent years.

 

During the activity, Pilar Moreno, Training Technician at the AVAF, explained the operation of the information channels, the legal guarantees of confidentiality and protection, as well as the different phases of the investigation procedures processed by the Agency. The Valencian Community was presented as a pioneering environment in the protection of whistleblowers of bad practices in the public sector.

 

The meeting generated a high level of participation, with special interest on the part of the students in issues such as the anonymity of informants and the management of complaints. This new edition has been possible thanks to the collaboration of Professor Elena Juaristi.

 

With initiatives such as #DocuforumAVAF, the AVAF brings the current challenges of public ethics, transparency and the defence of the general interest closer to the university environment.

 

 If you are a university, baccalaureate or 4th year ESO teacher in the Valencian Community and you want to organise this activity in your classroom, you can write to formacion@antifraucv.es

 

Mar252026

The AVAF promotes a reflection on integrity and conflict of interest in the field of research at the Universitat Politècnica de València

The AVAF promotes a reflection on integrity and conflict of interest in the field of research at the Universitat Politècnica de València

 

Valencia, 25 March 2026.- The Valencian Anti-Fraud Agency (AVAF) and the Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV) have held the training conference “Conflict of interest in academic and research environments” at the Higher Technical School of Industrial Engineering (ETSII). The activity brought together nearly 80 attendees, including research staff, project managers and university administration staff.

 

Belén Picó, Vice-Rector for Research at the UPV, presented the conference and, subsequently, the Agency’s Training technicians, Mayte López and Pilar Moreno, analysed risk situations that often go unnoticed in academia:

  1. Malpractice in publication and authorship: One of the points of greatest interest for the teaching and research staff has been the analysis of scientific integrity. The problems posed by fraud in authorship and practices such as salami slicing or fragmentation of publications to inflate CVs have been detailed.
  2. Management of Spin-offs and transfer: The particularities of knowledge-based companies (CBE) have been addressed, clarifying the exceptions allowed by the Science (LCTI) and Universities (LOSU) laws with respect to the general regime of incompatibilities.
  3. Control tools in European funds: The mandatory use of DACI (declaration of absence of conflict of interest) and the MINERVA data mining tool has been delved into, explaining how the cross-referencing of tax and notarial data allows detecting “red flags” or hidden corporate links before the award of contracts.
  4. Evolution of the legal framework: The shift from a model based on the “good faith” of the civil servant (Law 40/2015) to one of active surveillance and automated detection reinforced by the laws of 2022 and 2023 has been analysed.
  5.  

The session concluded with a practical workshop where attendees presented real experiences and resolved doubts about the management of personal, relational, institutional and economic interests common in the different dimensions of university and research management.

 

The collaboration between the AVAF and the UPV reaffirms the commitment of both institutions to public integrity and transparency.

 

If you would like to have specialized training, you can contact us through formacion@antifraucv.es

 

Mar182026

Whistleblower protection authorities meet in compliance with Law 2/2023

Barcelona, 18 March 2026.- The Agency for the Prevention and Fight against Fraud and Corruption of the Valencian Community (AVAF) has participated in the coordination session of the independent whistleblower protection authorities established by Law 2/2023, of 20 February, regulating the protection of people who report regulatory breaches.

 

In addition to the AVAF, the meeting was attended by the state-owned Independent Authority for the Protection of Whistleblowers, the Anti-Fraud Office of Catalonia, the Office of Good Practices and Anti-Corruption of the Autonomous Community of Navarre, the Andalusian Office against Fraud and Corruption, the Galician Authority for the Protection of Whistleblowers, the Independent Authority on Corruption of Castilla y León,  the Council of Transparency and Good Governance of Castilla-La Mancha and the Council of Transparency and Data Protection of the Community of Madrid.

 

During the meeting, the authorities discussed the status of the processing of the draft of the Organic Law on Public Integrity and the need to establish common criteria for the consistent application of Law 2/2023. Among other issues, the competence model of the different independent authorities, the ways of exercising the sanctioning power, the protection of whistleblowers and the procedures for notifying the people responsible for the internal information systems were discussed.

 

The competent authorities in the field of whistleblower protection have held their biannual cooperation meeting at the headquarters of the Anti-Fraud Office of Catalonia, in a hybrid format: face-to-face and telematic. This meeting marks the beginning of a stable calendar of periodic meetings that will take place on a rotating basis in different autonomous communities.

 

Article 42.3 of Law 2/2023 establishes that “the presidency of the Independent Authority for the Protection of Whistleblowers, A.A.I. shall convene, on its own initiative or when requested by another authority, the regional authorities for the protection of whistleblowers to contribute to the consistent application of the regulations on the protection of whistleblowers. In any case, semi-annual cooperation meetings will be held”.

 

The article adds that “the presidency of the Independent Authority for the Protection of Whistleblowers, A.A.I. and the regional authorities for the protection of whistleblowers may request and facilitate the mutual exchange of information necessary for the fulfilment of their functions. Likewise, they may constitute working groups to deal with specific matters of common interest and establish common guidelines for action”.