Anti-Fraud Agency Reopens Mas Camarena Case in Canet After €2.2m Public Loss
The Valencian Anti-Fraud Agency (AVAF) has reopened the Mas Camarena case in Canet d'En Berenguer after a complaint naming former mayors and municipal officials over a school concession annulled by the courts that ultimately cost taxpayers €2.2 million.
A formal complaint lodged with the Agència Valenciana Antifrau (AVAF) has brought the contracting record of Canet d'En Berenguer — a municipality in the Camp de Morvedre comarca — back under official scrutiny. The watchdog, established by the Valencian Parliament in 2015 with backing from all parties except the PP and active since July 2017, has the power to act on its own initiative and penalise those who obstruct its inspections. The agency must now establish whether a 2013 school-construction contract was improperly handed to Mas Camarena when the rival bidder, El Plantío International School, was the only candidate holding the required international accreditation. The High Court of Justice of the Valencian Community (TSJCV) — the region's apex court for administrative disputes — voided that award in 2017 after establishing that the tender specifications had been improperly modified during scoring. To settle the ensuing litigation, the council paid €2.2 million in an out-of-court agreement. The complaint also raises possible criminal liability and has been submitted simultaneously to the Valencia public prosecutor. Canet additionally carries a judgment in the Vitas de Amarre case exceeding €300,000. According to El Periódico de Aquí.