EU prosecutors probe alleged fraud over Spanish gender-violence tracking bracelets

Investigation at two institutions

The European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO) announced on Thursday, 12 November, that it is investigating the headquarters of Spain's Ministry of Equality and the Court of Audits over alleged fraud involving EU funds. The money was meant to buy electronic bracelets that monitor compliance with restraining orders and sentences in gender-violence cases. In a statement issued from Luxembourg, the EPPO said its Madrid office leads the case, supported by the UCO, the Guardia Civil's Central Operational Unit. The inquiry was opened last year. UCO officers went to both sites the same day to collect documents on the contracts for the devices.

The EPPO has not yet named anyone under investigation, disclosed the amount of funds involved or described the scope of the searches. According to La Razón, the failures of the bracelets provoked a crisis in the department led by Minister Ana Redondo.

Warnings and failures in the monitoring system

According to El Confidencial, the Observatory against Domestic and Gender Violence, which depends on the General Council of the Judiciary, warned Redondo in January 2024 about the risks of the new bracelets. Prosecutors also flagged multiple failures in the devices. The ministry initially denied the problem and described it as 'isolated cases'.

Female workers at the monitoring centre, Cometa, told elDiario.es that the handover from Telefónica to a joint venture of Vodafone and Securitas caused months of chaos. The devices kept working, they said, but incidents rose sharply and internal problems raised fears for the system. The service went inactive on 11 November, which forced activation of the victim-protection protocol.

Ministry response

ElDiario.es reports that the ministry manages the contract for the bracelets. After the news broke, Redondo said there would be full cooperation with the investigation.

“Absolute collaboration. Absolute transparency. We want every euro audited. We have confirmed that it was invested correctly.”

The ministry has consistently argued that the system works, but it has opened an audit to check whether the companies are meeting the contract. Around 4,300 women currently use one of these devices, which alert authorities when the aggressor approaches them or enters protected zones.

What the Court of Audits found

The Court of Audits, in a report that El Confidencial cites, identified irregularities in the contracting and monitoring of the system in 2018, 2021 and 2023. The system remained in force until May. The court's report stated:

“Service quality must take precedence over cost savings, and the best available technology must be guaranteed.”

The contract files reviewed total 102.6 million euros, of which 42.6 million relate to 2023 and were partly financed by the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan. A separate minor contract worth 12,706.21 euros was also examined. The court now confirms the failures that the ministry had initially denied.

2018, 2021 and 2023 contracts, total102.6

2023 contracts42.6

2018, 2021 and 2023 contracts, total

102.6 million euros

2023 contracts

42.6 million euros

Data from the article text