It didn’t take even 42 days, with the month of August in between, for the new director of the Valencian Community Anti-Fraud Agency, Eduardo Beut, to expel from the entity two more than consolidated profiles in the fight against Valencian corruption. Teresa Clemente, former deputy director and key person in charge of the Blasco case, and Gustavo Segura, also former director of investigation and former auditor of Mislata, were dismissed this week by Beut for “collaboration” with the anti-corruption prosecutor’s office. A true declaration of intentions from someone who was elected to the Corts Valencianes only with the votes of the PP and Vox after changing the law for the election of the president from qualified majority to simple majority.
Beut’s arrival at the presidency of the Anti-Fraud Agency has not been without controversy. First, due to his past similarity with the former president of the Generalitat of the PP, Eduardo Zaplana, and later, due to the dubious prestige of the entities defending transparency and fighting corruption that supported his candidacy. According to sources close to the functioning of the agency, since he joined the entity on July 23, Beut has requested the expert files related to the Erial cases, in which the main accused is the former Minister of Labor, and Azud, in which members of the PP of Valencia and the lawyer José Luis Vera, former head of the PSPV in the Provincial Council of Valencia, are being investigated.
The Anti-Fraud Agency has refused to provide an official version of the dismissals and has requested a future meeting with journalists. But sources from the institution frame the departure of Clemente and Segura, put forward by Elevator-EMV And The provincesin a legitimate restructuring of the new director, who must have the possibility that his closest collaborators can trust him. The same sources explain that the dismissed still do not have replacements for the moment and that people from the second level Agency will assume their functions.
The Anti-Fraud Agency, promoted by the Valencian Courts after the change of government in 2015, has played a key role in some of the most serious corruption cases in the Valencian Community. Its expertise in assisting the Civil Guard or the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office has served to support the Erial case or advance the Azud case. Thanks to the Agency’s work, it was possible to demonstrate the irregularities in the award of the Valencian Community Wind Plan and put Zaplana in the dock. The entity also enjoys great notoriety thanks to its collaborations with other anti-fraud agencies and has received several awards for its work investigating corruption. In addition, it has pursued irregularities committed by administrations of all political persuasions, with its reports being used by all parties to criticize its rival.
Both dismissed officials have an important record in the fight against corruption and, in the case of Teresa Clemente, a crucial episode that changed the perception of how public officials should act in cases of corruption. Clemente played a key role in the Blasco trial, as her testimony was fundamental to supporting the accusation of the former Minister of Camps. The now dismissed official was part of the Ministry of Solidarity where some six million euros of funds intended for international cooperation were defrauded and she resisted the pressure of the former minister and his cronies. Most of the defendants in this case have been imprisoned.
It is striking that the argument for the departure of these two directors of the Agency is the collaboration with the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office, since its statutes clearly indicate that it is a body of support and collaboration with the judicial and fiscal authority. It will be necessary to see what direction the new director takes and what image of security he wishes to offer to potential whistleblowers in corruption cases. These dismissals do not seem to be the best cover letter for the civil servant who wants to risk his position by denouncing an irregularity.
