The Valencian Anti-Fraud Agency (AVA) completes four months this Sunday without publishing its resolution reports on the conclusion of investigative actions. The last two were published on June 27. During the entire last stage of Joan Llinares’ previous mandate as director of the AVA, the entity published the reports in monthly batches, with complete punctuality. However, after the appointment of Eduardo Beut by PP and Vox, on July 15, Antifraud has blocked the publication of the reports, as confirmed by sources from the entity consulted by elDiario.es.
Although the AVA regulations do not establish a specific deadline for the publication of the reports, the rhythms of the house have suddenly stopped with the arrival of Beut, a position very close to the former regional president Eduardo Zaplana. Agency sources frame the delay in the publication of the reports in the “period of change” with the election of the new director. The same sources also anticipate that “some improvement will be introduced” in relation to the publication procedure, data protection and “the contents themselves.” “It’s normal,” they say.
In 2023, according to the data contained in the agency’s annual report, 63 investigation files were processed, whose conclusion reports are published on the Antifraud website. During Llinares’ seven years in office, the agency published almost 300 investigative resolutions.
The Regulations of operation and internal regime of the AVA establish, in its article 40, that once the processing of the investigation file is completed, the director of the entity may agree to the archiving of the actions, the formulation of recommendations, proposals for sanctions and including the transfer to the Public Prosecutor’s Office (in the event that there are indications of conduct or facts that presumably constitute a crime) or to the Court of Accounts, if a possible accounting liability could arise.
On the other hand, article 13 of the law creating the agency provides for a maximum duration of the actions of six months from the agreement to initiate the investigation, with the possibility of a motivated extension of another six months due to the complexity of the case.
Beut’s first three months
Eduardo Beut’s landing in the AVA has been surrounded by several controversies. In addition to the dismissal of Teresa Clemente (deputy director of the entity with Joan Llinares and key official in the complaint of the ‘Blasco case’) and Gustavo Segura (Beut’s rival in the selection process in the Corts Valencianes), six investigators have left of the disbanded entity.
Beut also repealed the Anti-Fraud Agency’s Code of Ethics and eliminated the committee that investigates internal complaints. He did so four days after learning that he had been reported for alleged “serious violations” of the code.
The director of the AVA maintains another front open on account of the expert reports that the agency prepares, in judicial assistance functions, in relevant cases of corruption. The Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office recently requested that Gustavo Segura, responsible for the expert reports of the ‘Azud case’, ratify them within the framework of the investigation. However, a letter signed by the AVA lawyer, Sonia Folgado, ignored the Prosecutor’s request, recalling that Gustavo Segura was dismissed on September 2 and, therefore, he no longer “has access to the administrative files of investigation of this Agency in which he has participated.”
Segura has already been in charge of previous expert reports in corruption cases such as the ‘Erial case’, in whose trial he appeared as an expert. In 2023, according to the AVA’s report, various Valencian courts requested a total of eight expert reports from the entity. Since its creation, Antifraude has carried out a total of 31 “procedural collaborations”.
In the case of the reports prepared under the supervision of Gustavo Segura, former head of Investigation of the entity, his controversial dismissal does not concern the ratification of the expert opinions before the Investigative Court number 13 of Valencia, responsible for the investigations of the ‘case. Weir’. In fact, as reported The Confidentialthe official has already been summoned to ratify the reports despite the Anti-Fraud obstacles.
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