New Valencia Anti-Fraud Agency Chief Dismisses Two Top Officials Amid Accusations of Judicial Collaboration
Eduardo Beut, the new head of the Anti-Fraud Agency, has dismissed the second and third in command for neglecting their duties by assisting the judiciary in the preparation of expert reports for the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor. Beut, who was elected on July 15 with backing from the People’s Party and Vox in the regional parliament, took office on July 23. After a brief vacation, he moved quickly to notify Teresa Clemente, the deputy director of Anti-Fraud and head of legal matters, and Gustavo Segura, the agency’s director of investigations and another candidate for the agency’s top post, of their removal.
Ties between Clemente and Segura were close to Joan Llinares, the former head of Anti-Fraud who wound down the agency’s seven-year term last May. Segura was the candidate supported by civil society groups with a demonstrated record in fighting corruption. According to the founding law of the Anti-Fraud Agency, these groups could nominate candidates to lead the body. Segura thus pursued the role with endorsements from notable organizations including the Foundation for Justice, Civic Action against Corruption, and the Observatori Ciutadà against Corruption, which represents about half a dozen entities.
The fight against corruption has positioned the Anti-Fraud Agency as an ally of the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor in producing expert reports for cases that have already reached trial, such as the Erial case, which involved former regional presidents Eduardo Zaplana and José Luis Olivas and whose verdict is pending. The agency has also played a role in the Taula and Azud cases. This function, outlined in the agency’s founding law, envisions the entity as a body that can assist and collaborate with the judiciary and the public prosecutor when required.
In practice, the scope of this collaboration was reinforced by a formal agreement with the State Public Prosecutor’s Office, allowing anti-fraud bodies to support the Public Prosecutor through opinions, reports, and other technical actions deemed necessary. The new leadership’s concerns appear to center on whether Clemente and Segura exceeded their authority by cooperating with judicial bodies, especially the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor, according to sources familiar with the matter cited by Levante-EMV, a publication within the INFORMACIÓN group. This reporting notes that such collaboration, while allowed by law, may have crossed lines in the eyes of the current direction.
Both Clemente and Segura are career civil servants, a requirement established when the Valencia Anti-Fraud Agency was created to safeguard the independence of its personnel. Their removal means they will return to their prior positions or seek new roles within the Generalitat, with Clemente potentially returning to a senior civil service post and Segura possibly moving into an auditing role. The newspaper attempted to obtain official statements from the leadership of Anti-Fraud but was told to wait for a future press conference to explain the new stage at the Valencia Anti-Fraud Agency. The absence of immediate public comment underscores the sensitivity surrounding the leadership transition and the ongoing debate about the agency’s boundaries and its relationship with the judiciary.
The controversy also highlights a broader conversation about transparency, accountability, and the checks and balances that govern public anti-corruption bodies. As the agency realigns under Beut’s leadership, observers in civil society and political circles are watching closely how the new administration will navigate internal tensions and external expectations. The case raises questions about how the agency should balance its investigative independence with its role as a support arm to the judicial process. The evolving narrative will likely shape how the agency engages with the courts and how it frames its mandate in the public eye, particularly as new reforms or oversight mechanisms are discussed in regional forums. [Attribution: Levante-EMV; INFORMACIÓN group]
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