Complaints received by the anticorruption office have shot up

Five per cent referral for possible prosecution

Director of the Balearic anticorruption office, Jaume Far

Jaume Far, director of the anticorruption office. | Miquel À. Cañellas

Majorca Daily Bulletin reporterPalma16/10/2021 11:30

The anticorruption office in the Balearics has yet to start processing 110 complaints that have been lodged with it, including 69 that correspond to the current year.

The office's director, Jaume Far, recognises that the number of complaints has been shooting up. To the end of September, there were 98 complaints for the current year. These compare with 76 in 2020 and 50 in 2019.

The great majority of complaints are archived and so no further action is taken. At present, only 5.3% of those received since the office started operations in 2018 have resulted in reports indicating potential administrative or criminal irregularity.

Originally, the office comprised just one person - Jaume Far. Ten people now work for the office, which has a budget of 922,000 euros. Most of the complaints received are anonymous, relate to public contracting and apply to town halls. But there are also complaints regarding island councils and the Balearic government.

* The anticorruption office does not have a prosecution function, but its reports can form the basis for court and prosecutor investigation.