The Prosecutor's Office investigates whether there are irregularities in the management of aid to former wards of the former DGAIA

BarcelonaIn March, the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office requested information from the Office of Fraud Prevention regarding the investigations being carried out on the former Directorate General of Childhood and Adolescence (DGAIA) and the alleged irregularities in the granting and control of economic and housing benefits received by former wards. El ARA has been able to confirm that the Special Prosecutor's Office against Corruption and Organized Crime is investigating the case, although in a still very "incipient" stage of proceedings.

The public prosecutor's office must analyze the files of the former wards one by one to check if any type of crime exists and if the criminal act can be attributed to someone specific. One of the important issues that the public entity must resolve is to determine whether there was a simple lack of control by the administration in supervising these benefits, as a result of a lack of organization and staff, or whether there is conduct that can be classified as constituting a crime.

The case broke out in January 2025, when El ARA – and Octuvre – uncovered the complaint of a third-sector worker who had detected irregularities in the economic and housing benefits affecting former wards. In one case, for example, a young person was receiving both benefits, when they had been living and working in Valencia for months. Even, the foundation responsible for managing the aid had changed the young person's apartment, claiming they were looking for work, when, in reality, they had been working outside Catalonia for months.

When the worker alerted their superiors, they urged them not to "expose the malpractice and embezzlement of public funds." Subsequently, in March, this newspaper explained that there were entities in the province of Girona that were deceiving the administration with "ghost places." Three female workers reported that an entity, despite having empty places in the apartments to accommodate young people, charged the Generalitat as if the dwellings were full. According to testimonies, it did so by "falsifying young people's signatures" to make it appear that they "remained in service," that is, that they still lived in the apartment and that the entity worked closely with them, even though it was not true.

Two files

Precisely, Antifrau currently has two open investigations in relation to this case. Although the Prosecutor's Office requested information and is investigating it, Antifrau continues with its actions. The first investigation refers to the actions of the administration and the officials of the DGAIA in the management of these benefits.

In this regard, the Court of Audit issued a report in June 2025 which concluded that the Department of Social Rights paid 167.56 million euros improperly through economic benefits during the period 2016-2024. These improper payments, according to the auditing body, "do not only respond to administrative errors", but to "structural problems of transparency and governance" and that, therefore, could lead "to actions that are administratively and judicially prosecutable". Of these 167 million, 4.7 million were related to the reported case because they were improper payments to the former foster youth.

The other Antifrau investigation involves the entities that manage these benefits. Here, as ARA has learned, there is more ground to cover.

This Friday afternoon, the initial whistleblower, who has the status of a person protected by Antifraude, testified before the commission created in Parliament to investigate the alleged irregularities of the DGAIA. He did so behind closed doors and accompanied by the protection unit of the office headed by Josep Tomàs Salàs. Afterwards, it was the turn of Maria Teresa San Miguel, former head of service of the Area of Protected and Unprotected Youth. San Miguel focused heavily on the difficulties the administration had in controlling benefits due to a lack of efficient IT resources, as much documentation was done manually until very recently. She also complained about the lack of staff despite the increase in cases to supervise.

The scandal of sexual exploitation for months of a minor under administrative protection and the alleged irregularities reported at the beginning of 2025 led the Government of Salvador Illa to reformulate the DGAIA and create a new body, the new General Directorate for the Prevention and Protection of Children and Adolescents (DGPPIA), focused more on prevention and without the economic responsibilities it previously had. Thus, it no longer contracts places in residential centers where minors are housed, nor is it responsible for processing the benefits received by supervised young people, which were managed through contracts with third-sector entities.