DGAIA Benefited a Private Foundation to Profit From the Purchase of 500 Apartments

The revelation of irregularities surrounding the management of public funds by DGAIA has fully implicated ERC and Junts, and threatens to also drag PSC. For years, this public body benefited friendly private companies through the direct awarding of contracts and other fraudulent operations. This would only be the tip of the iceberg of a much larger corrupt scheme.

Octuvre has now uncovered new information about the DGAIA scandal. This Generalitat body allegedly benefited a private foundation for its enrichment with the purchase of 500 apartments. According to the aforementioned media, we are facing a multimillion-dollar transfer of public money and public housing to private and completely opaque entities.

This new information reveals systemic corruption during the years of ERC and Junts governance. When the irregularities occurred, the department of social rights was in the hands of ERC. PSC would now be covering up the case to protect its partners.

The DGAIA Corrupt Scheme

The Directorate General for Child and Adolescent Care (DGAIA) is a public body that directly depends on the Department of Social Rights of the Generalitat. This body is dedicated to the protection and reception of minors and young people who have aged out of care. The scandals date back to 2016 and 2020, a period in which DGAIA allocated nearly 800 million euros to these services.

DGAIA doesn't directly manage these services; instead, it subcontracts them to an extensive network of private entities that manage all these millions. Behind these foundations are opaque organizations that accumulate numerous irregularities. In summary, DGAIA's public funds are managed by opaque companies that do not have to explain what they do with them.

Furthermore, many DGAIA leaders are part of these private companies, and many executives of these foundations are in DGAIA. This implies a convergence of interests and the absence of any type of control over management.

Octubre uncovered that DGAIA had awarded contracts directly, bypassing regulations. The foundations had charged for nonexistent places and had granted aid to young people who did not meet the requirements. The Audit Office also reported it in a report, but ERC and PSC have maneuvered to try to hide the case.

Real Estate Corruption

One of the entities most benefited by this corrupt scheme is Plataforma Educativa. It is an umbrella organization that hosts ten entities, including Fundació Resilis. Although no one has heard of them, between 2016 and 2023, Plataforma Educativa's foundations managed 300 million euros in public funds.

It is also a highly centralized network. Twelve executives hold a total of 47 positions distributed among the different foundations. Among them is Ricard Calvo, former director of DGAIA, who during his tenure awarded contracts to foundations he directed. One of them is Resilis, to which DGAIA gave public money for the purchase of 500 homes.

Plataforma Educativa's auditors revealed in 2023 the launch of a social housing investment process. It was done through an agreement with the Catalan Housing Agency and the Catalan Institute of Finance. This allowed the entity to acquire 500 homes for a period of 75 years.

The operation was valued at 30 million, to which must be added a long list of juicy public subsidies for the rehabilitation of these homes. Therefore, Plataforma Educativa received public money to buy homes, subsidies to rehabilitate them, and funds to accommodate minors in these apartments.

Investigated by Anti-Fraud

As if that weren't enough, Fundació Resilis is being investigated by the Anti-Fraud Office for alleged irregularities. Octubre reveals shocking details about the mafia-like ways these entities operate. A foundation worker reported to DGAIA the forgery of documents by its leaders to fraudulently collect public money.

DGAIA not only covered up the case, but the whistleblower began to suffer workplace harassment and threats to the point of having to take leave. Meanwhile, the leaders of Plataforma Educativa continue to enrich themselves thanks to DGAIA's irregularities.