As part of its activities, the Anti-Fraud Office monitors the investigations that it first conducts.
The purpose of this monitoring is twofold: on the one hand, to check whether the bodies that have been investigated have applied the measures requested or recommended in a congruent and sufficient manner; and on the other hand, to check and make it possible, some time after the end of the investigation, that the entity has been able to take appropriate measures not only to correct, review, sanction or repair the damage that may have been caused, but also preventive or good practices.
Thus, this activity becomes the link that unites the research task and the preventive task of the institution. The synergy between the two tasks allows the Office to be fed back both in its prevention functions, pointing out areas and risk factors, as well as in its research function, proposing research actions in certain areas and elaborating recommendations, criteria and doctrine of a general nature that the research staff can use in their actions.
Therefore, in order to be useful and to help in the improvement of the entities included in the scope of action of the Office, the Directorate of Prevention carries out a proposal of preventive measures aimed at minimizing the risk factors that have been observed in the facts investigated in order to correct the possible deficiencies detected. This promotes the inclusion of risk assessment and management for integrity in the design of preventive measures.
The Next Generation European Funds
Ministerial Order HFP/1030/2021, of 29 September, which sets up the management system for the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan, provides for mandatory action for the bodies involved in the execution of this Plan as recipients of European funds, fraud risk assessment, declaration of absence of conflicts of interest and the availability of a procedure to address conflicts of interest.
The self-assessment that each entity must make of the risk of fraud is one of the keys to the elaboration and design of prevention, detection and correction measures that must be set up in the Anti-Fraud Action Plans provided for in this Ministerial Order.
Anti-Fraud follow-up reports
The Office carries out a risk analysis relating to the risk factors detected in the facts that have been investigated in case, if this has not been done, they consider implementing preventive measures and/or reviewing those that have already have been adopted to reduce the chances that the risk will materialize. This analysis will also be of particular use to those entities that want to access the Next Generation Funds and, therefore, have to draw up an ‘Anti-Fraud Measure Plan’ as provided for in the said Ministerial Order.
In addition, those resources and tools that may be useful for the analysis and management of risks are provided, both for the elaboration of Anti-Fraud Measure Plans, Integrity Plans or, simply, for a self-assessment of the organization to implement concrete measures with the will of continuous improvement.
In order for the content of the various follow-up reports addressed to the investigated bodies to be useful to other institutions, the Anti-Fraud Office offers a list on this page, classified by risk and type of body.