The allegations were taken up by EU fraud investigator OLAF, which launched its own investigation. (POLITICO and Welt, owned by Axel Springer, are not publishing the names of the travel agents for legal reasons.)
However, despite the warning signs, Frontex will issue a new call for tenders in December 2022 to help manage the agency's €526 million travel budget with fellow Polish travel companies in 2023. A new contract was signed.
Internal Frontex documents reviewed by Welt and POLITICO show that the contract was awarded because other bidders failed to provide comparable services. However, the document makes no mention of the investigation.
It was only after Frontex's legal department conducted an independent investigation into the travel agency and recommended withdrawal of the contract in November 2023 that Executive Director Wrightens signed a so-called “notice of non-acceptance” and canceled the contract and the entire contract. contract has been canceled. bidding process.
“Financial regulation is [of the EU] “We are obligated to do this (terminate the contract) in cases where fraud is clear,” one internal document reads.
Despite the ongoing investigation and allegations of wrongdoing, it remains unclear who at Frontex made the decision to enter into the contract.
Mr. Leitens was appointed Executive Director of Frontex in March 2023, replacing Fabrice Leggeri, who resigned in April 2022.
Frontex did not respond to repeated requests for comment from POLITICO and Welt. A Polish travel agency declined to comment for this article.
