Arboç Town Council

October-2025

Following a report about the payment of legal defense expenses from the municipal budget for a local police command of the Arboç Town Council, investigated together with the mayor's office in criminal proceedings, an action was opened in which it was examined whether the contracting of these legal services was carried out in accordance with public procurement regulations and whether the assumption of municipal expenses could entail favorable treatment. The examination carried out shows that the legal defense services were articulated through two minor contracts linked to the same judicial procedure, with the same reference file number, awarded in different annuities and related to the same professional environment. The sum of the amounts exceeded the legal limit of the minor contract, which constitutes a high risk of contractual fragmentation and makes it questionable whether this form of contracting was the most appropriate. Likewise, there is no protocol, instruction or organizational criterion that regulates the cases in which the Town Council must assume this type of expense or the way in which it must choose legal defense, which generates a significant margin of discretion and a risk scenario compatible with possible favorable treatment. In accordance with these results, the action has ended with the sending to the local entity of a reasoned report with the details of the irregularities found, in accordance with the provisions of art. 21 of Law 14/2008, of 5 November, of the Anti-Fraud Office of Catalonia. In response to the reasoned report, an internal control and audit report has been received in which it is indicated, in summary, that the contracts are null and void and the Town Council is urged to initiate the necessary procedures to declare them null and void and to recover public funds.