The international market for medical devices became “all people for themselves” during the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic. The public administration started hunting masks, costumes and protective materials and hydroalcoholic gel with urgent procedures, without public competition and with the slogan of obtaining material as quickly as possible. Now, as elDiario.es has revealed, the anti-corruption prosecutor’s office has a magnifying glass on these few contracts, signed by the Madrid City Council in the worst case of the first virus attack, in the event that several businessmen have imposed illegal fees. Contracts that a few months ago already attracted the attention of the Court of Auditors and which were not always a good deal for Madrid’s public line.
Contracts that are questionable have been awarded to Leno Malaysia SDN. BHD ‘, a Malaysia-based company that won three public contracts from the Board under Jose Luis Martinez-Almeida in March 2020: one for € 6.2 million for FFP2 and KN95 masks, another for € 3.9 million for a self-diagnostic test and a third contract for a contract 4.6 To buy. However, this last contract did not take place: the council found that the gloves were not the model they had requested and demanded a refund in advance.
All three were governed by emergency procedures, as the newly established state of alarm was then allowed, and all three were done through the municipal company Servicios Funerarios de Madrid. The Madrid Council decided to do so and signed an agreement in March 2020 to expedite contracts and obtain material as soon as possible. According to the Court of Auditors, in total, Madrid signed 72 contracts through the Municipal Funeral Home worth more than € 42.1 million. Between the beginning of the pandemic and the month of July, as the City Council clarified these days, most of them were signed.
Now, as elDiario.es has revealed, the anti-corruption prosecution will have to decide whether there was any crime or breach in the two contracts awarded to Leno Malaysia and the commission imposed by Luis Medina. But by the end of last year, the Court of Auditors had already conducted these contracts in a report analyzing all the emergency awards made by the 12 Spanish municipalities in the first year of the pandemic with a population of more than 300,000. The moment when, as the Madrid City Council acknowledged publicly and privately, the priority was not to get a competitive price, but to save the lives of the necessary staff through any material they could get as quickly as possible.
The report revealed at the time that almost all contracts that arose out of breach abused the emergency contract when it was no longer needed, did not provide all the information through the accountability platform, or concentrated multiple contracts on the same suppliers. In the case of the Madrid City Council, he also confirmed that in many cases he was the one who bought the most expensive ones, for example, when buying FFP2 masks. And the contracts awarded to the Malaysian company are on the list of the least profitable procurements of the Jose Luis Martinez-Almeida Board.
The Court of Accounts compared the price at which each council bought each product and the Madrid council lost in several categories. The most astonishing, the report says, are the rapid antibody tests: in the last week of March 2020, Madrid bought them for 16.03 euros per unit. Twice as many as Barcelona or Zaragoza on these dates. And the trail of this purchase goes to Leno Malaysia: “The highest price was 16.03 euros / unit, which is in line with the contract of the municipal company SFM (…) awarded to the Malaysian company”, – the Court of Accounts emphasized. One of the deals from which the million-dollar commissions of businessmen investigated by the anti-corruption prosecution allegedly came out.
According to the report, this also happened with the FFP2 and NK95 masks. In the last week of March, Madrid bought these masks on the international market for 6.24 euros. Twice as much as Barcelona (€ 2.50), Sevilla (€ 4) or Zaragoza (€ 1.60). The report states that the contract, which left the Madrid City Council with such an unfavorable price ratio, awarded another prize to the same Malaysian company. In the case of nitrile gloves, the capital was in the middle of the price ranking table relative to other cities, but refunds were sought because they were not the type of gloves they originally requested.
In the first weeks of the pandemic, the public administration tried to buy medical supplies as quickly as possible and use the tool left by Article 16 of the Royal Decree on Alarm: the purchase of these items was intended to stop them. Coronavirus can be advanced with emergency procedures. Without public competition and without many phases coming as soon as possible. And the Court of Auditors found that virtually all of the municipalities analyzed arose as a result of some kind of irregularity or misconduct, and that it affects the Malaysian supplier is no exception.
Some, for example, appealed to an emergency process when the Court of Auditors felt it was no longer necessary. E.g. With adequate and sufficient credit ”either did not publish the contractor’s profile or award or, finally, its formalization.
Some of these errors, according to the Court of Auditors’ documentation, affect the contracts with this Malaysian-based company. Of the three cases, for example, none of the contract data was published. However, one of them does not have “documentary accreditation for proper performance of services”, the report says. The Court of Auditors positively emphasizes that Madrid, Alicante and Barcelona were the cities that most often carried out the test of eligibility and solvency of a successful bidder, in 40% of the cases analyzed in the case of the capital. .
Contract processes carried out through the Municipal Funeral Services Company also received appreciation from the Court of Auditors in this report. The company contracted a total of 12 medical supplies transportation services without a competition, and 11 of them were “transferred to the same company,” the report said. He also concludes that “he also rewarded eighteen surgical masks out of twenty-six contracts he awarded, 69.23%, to the same supplier.”
Source: El Diario
I’m an experienced news author and editor based in New York City. I specialize in covering healthcare news stories for Today Times Live, helping to keep readers informed on the latest developments related to the industry. I have a deep understanding of medical topics, including emerging treatments and drugs, the changing laws that regulate healthcare providers, and other matters that affect public health.
