Spain: Complaint fans flames in ‘Fire Cartel’ case

Spain’s investigations into the so-called ‘fire cartel’, in which air service companies Inaer and Faasa manipulated dozens of public tenders for fire-fighting services in the province of Andalucía, uncovered by an official in 2015, has returned to the spotlight after new allegations against the helicopter service ‘Helicópteros del 061’.

The Ministry of the Environment official who originally denounced the cartel said that “it can be seen at first glance that (in the health emergency service) what is happening is the same as in the INFOCA contracts. The complaint provides official documentation to the Court Summary and notes that the public contest has been manipulated … ”

It is likely that the actual extent of the fraud could be larger, as only documents dating back to 2010 were consulted so far. “It’s probable that there are previous contracts in the same situation, as happened with Plan Infoca, which goes back to 2003, so the fraud could be larger.” Inaer (now Babcock España) and to a lesser extent Faasa, would have benefitted from their manipulation of helicopter contracts, earning as much as €57 million euros from 2010.

Full Content: El Diario

Want more news? Subscribe to CPI’s free daily newsletterr for more headlines and updates on antitrust developments around the world.