Spain’s fast-growing non-governmental sector was thrown into turmoil over Easter after it emerged that Fundación Intervida, one of Spain’s largest charities, was under investigation for the alleged embezzlement of €45m ($60m) meant for poor children in developing countries.
The probe comes only weeks after the arrest in Bilbao of José Luis Gamarra, chairman of Anesvad, a non-governmental organisation dedicated to the eradication of leprosy in Asia, on charges of embezzlement. Anesvad, which has 160,000 members and an annual budget of €35m, says it is co-operating with the authorities.
The inquiries have triggered a crisis of confidence in the workings of Spanish NGOs, which have expanded on the back of Spain’s booming economy. According to Congde, an association of NGOs, the not-for-profit sector raised €538m in Spain in 2005, a 20 per cent increase over the previous year.
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