The Antifraude Agency of the Valencian Community has identified irregularities in a contract awarded by the Fire Department area of the Valencia City Council. The contract, valued at 153,430 euros, was awarded to the company Aprolis Iberia in April 2024 for the supply of several tablets and onboard systems for the fire department's emergency vehicles.
According to Antifraude's report, the contract specifications included very specific characteristics that may have been tailor-made for the winning company. Furthermore, it is alerted that the base bidding price was inflated by 10% without adequate justification. The agency indicates that the technical specifications exactly matched a previous commercial proposal from the winning company, even though the latter declared the absence of conflicts of interest and denied having participated in the drafting of the tender documents.
Antifraude considers this declaration to be "false" and places the company in a "position of competitive advantage that violates the principles of equal treatment and non-discrimination." The agency also points out that the awarded company and the tablet manufacturer agreed on an exclusive "protected price" for the City Council before the public tender, suggesting access to confidential information and a violation of competition.
Compromís councilors Papi Robles and Ferran Puchades referenced these findings in a press conference, criticizing the current government's contract management and urging the mayor to take action. Antifraude recommends considering the contract's nullity and initiating an economic liquidation proceeding to pay only the material cost of the devices, thus depriving the company of its commercial profit.
Additionally, the report demands the urgent implementation of the Ethics Committee and the Antifraude Commission, as well as the establishment of a centralized electronic channel for market inquiries and a protocol to review the technical neutrality of tender documents. It also calls for integrating a text-matching software to prevent the copying of commercial catalogs.
The local government team maintains that the Prosecutor's Office had already dismissed a previous complaint regarding this contract and asserts that they have provided all the information requested by Antifraude.
