Joan Llinares, director of the Valencian Anti-Fraud Agency, at the institution's headquarters, in an image from 2021. Mònica Torres
Two civil society entities very significant in the fight against political corruption in Spain show their concern about the future of the Valencian Anti-Fraud Agency (Avaf).
Its director, Joan Llinares, ends his seven-year term on May 25 and the Valencian Cortes have begun the process of searching for a candidate who can end the leadership of the blocked institution
sine die
or with a politicized and sectarian leader. according to the Hay Derecho Foundation and Civic Action against Corruption.
On occasions, the investigative work of the various Valencian institutions and the protection of corruption whistleblowers has clashed with political parties.
“The Agency has been an uncomfortable entity for all parties with corruption problems, but that is its mission and this has been recognized by the European Commission,” says the general secretary of Hay Derecho, Elisa de la Nuez.
“There is an attempt by the political class to engulf an institution that is dedicated to the prevention of corruption,” says Antonio Penadés, president of Acción Cívica.
To find a replacement for the 70-year-old Valencian lawyer, who was previously in charge of recovering the funds looted by the former Convergència i Unió at the Palau de la Música or of revealing irregularities at the Institut Valencià d'Art Modern (IVAM), it is necessary the support of three-fifths of the Valencian parliament.
Llinares was proposed by three civic entities (Civic Action, the Foundation for Justice and the Observatori Ciutadà) and was elected in 2017 with the votes of the PSPV-PSPV, Compromís, Podemos and Ciudadanos;
the PP did not vote.
Now, the Popular Party and Vox, partners in the Government of the Generalitat, have the majority, but they need the support of the Socialists or Compromís for renewal.
Two candidates have been presented: Gustavo Adolfo Segura, the current Director of Analysis and Research of the Agency and has been proposed by the aforementioned organizations integrated into a platform;
and Eduardo Beut, Treasury inspector, promoted by the Spanish Association of Managers for Public Administration (AEGAP).
The debate arose last week when the parliamentary spokesperson for Compromís, Joan Baldoví, questioned this latest candidacy for being a “person linked to the PP” and a former “collaborator of Eduardo Zaplana”, in addition to suggesting the willingness of the PP and Vox to block or eliminate the agency.
Beut, after being a delegate of the Tax Agency in Valencia, was appointed, at the proposal of the PP, advisor and vice president of the Industrial Participations Portfolio, sponsored by Zaplana when he was president of the Generalitat.
He was also a partner of Juan Francisco García, who was the popular president's chief of staff.
Zaplana and García are accused in the Erial case, for whose investigation the judge requested expert reports from the Anti-Fraud Agency.
The debate on the Agency, attached to the Cortes, has continued this week.
Vox spokesperson, José María Llanos, guaranteed that they will study the candidates' resumes and their "suitability", but did not hide his distrust.
He stated that he will consider “negotiating” with his partner in the Consell to “talk about his location, reconversion, disappearance or whatever.”
And Baldoví stressed that he will continue to dialogue, after suggesting that the hidden purpose of the PP and Vox is to try to block or suppress the agency.
The PP spokesperson in Las Cortes, Miguel Barrachina, said he did not know any of the candidates or have preferences, which is why he rejected the opposition's criticism.
And regarding the intention of Vox, the trusted man of the Valencian president, Carlos Mazón, in parliament defended that due to his experience as a whistleblower, this agency “could have done much more during the two terms of government of the Botànic”, in reference to the previous government of the PSPV-PSOE, Compromís and Podemos.
The socialist spokesman, José Muñoz, accused the PP of wanting to “put a person in his strict confidence” and proposed a dialogue, leaving aside the far-right Vox, as well as Compromís.
In this context, Elisa de la Nuez, State lawyer and general secretary of the Hay Derecho Foundation, recalled that “the Valencia Anti-Fraud Agency has been exemplary during the mandate of Joan Linares, and has been chosen as an example of good practices. by the European Commission.
“It has also been a reference for other entities fighting corruption at the national level.
It is striking that an attempt is being made to colonize/block/decaffeinate an entity that has worked very well, just at the time when it is provided for by Law 2/2023, of February 20, regulating the protection of people who report violations regulations and fight against corruption the creation of an independent Whistleblower Protection Authority at the state level.
That is, we are going backwards, backwards and not forward.”
Stand up
Lawyer Antonio Penadés insists that “it is very important that society finds out, reacts and stands up so that politicians do not act with impunity.”
The historian and writer also affirms that “Joan Llinares has been a success due to the many smear campaigns he has had and what we propose is continuous.
Gustavo Segura is a person who meets all the requirements and has no party or other ties that would invalidate him,” he reasons.
Penadés does not trust any party or the interests they are defending in the replacement process.
He emphasizes that the Agency has recovered much more money from corruption than the expenditure for its operation, without counting the “many intangibles” that its recommendations and actions have generated in officials, for example.
In the 2022 report of the Agency, which settled a budget of 3.2 million that year, 77 completed investigations are included and the “total recoverable amount amounts to 5,629,689.30”, which results in “a ratio of estimated annual economic return on recoverable amount of 176.27%”.
The Government Quality Institute of the University of Gothenburg placed the Valencian Community at the bottom of the Spanish autonomies in terms of the perception of corruption.
In 2022, it was promoted to the group of the best, the Agency has highlighted in its communications
Joan Llinares has expressed his intention not to extend his mandate beyond what is stipulated by law.
If no replacement is found, the current deputy director, Teresa Clemente, would remain at the head of the institution at the expense of what the political parties finally decide.
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