Carmen A. Vega Furnier, the governor's nominee for contralora (comptroller) of Puerto Rico, defended her record and outlined plans for modernization and transparency at a public hearing before the House Government Commission on Oct. 14, 2025. Lawmakers spent much of the session pressing her about an anonymous complaint alleging mismanagement at the Banco de Desarrollo Económico (BDE), where she serves as executive director.

The hearing began at 10:19 a.m. with commission leadership reading a communication from Representatives Denis Márquez Lebrón and Adriana Gutiérrez asking the commission to delay consideration and request a preliminary investigation into the anonymous allegations. Representative Márquez Lebrón told the commission the complaint had been filed on the BDE portal and that, despite its anonymity, the office’s rules allow anonymous complaints and they “deben ser investigadas.”

Why it matters: the contraloría is a constitutionally established, ten‑year post that audits central government agencies, instrumentalities and municipalities. The nominee’s answers on staffing, the office lease and how she would handle complaints are relevant to the office’s independence and to public confidence in audits that affect municipalities and government vendors across Puerto Rico.

Most of the committee’s questioning focused on the anonymous complaint, which alleges that BDE employees cared for the nominee’s pet during work hours, that procurement and loan‑processing procedures were not followed, and that these problems could risk the bank’s Small Business Administration (SBA) certification. Vega Furnier repeatedly denied substantive wrongdoing in her BDE management. Under oath she told the commission, “Comparezco ante ustedes con un profundo y firme compromiso con la transparencia, la ética y la sana administración pública.” When asked whether the bank faced imminent loss of SBA certification, she answered “Falso. Bajo mi administración.”

The nominee also reviewed her professional background and management record at BDE. She said the bank’s commercial loan portfolio rose from about $15 million when she arrived to roughly $33 million, and that the bank currently had roughly $50 million in commercial banking, $8 million in credit and $18 million in closings—with a projection to reach about $100 million in commercial credit by Dec. 31, 2025 and to exceed $200 million by Dec. 31, 2026. She said she is awaiting approval from the Financial Oversight and Management Board for a venture capital investment above $15 million.

On internal operations and technology, Vega Furnier told the panel that the Contraloría must modernize and that she would deploy new digital tools and artificial intelligence to accelerate audits. She proposed consolidating office space to avoid what she said is an annual rent bill of roughly $2,000,000 for the current leased Hato Rey offices. She also gave staffing figures for the Contraloría as it stands: “hay sobre 500 empleados,” of whom she said about 400 are auditors and 56 are employees of confianza (appointed positions); she said 48 of those 56 positions were filled and that about 38 of those filled were career employees with reinstatement rights.

Several committee members said those figures and the anonymous complaint required at least a preliminary administrative review before a full confirmation vote. Representative Héctor Ferrer Santiago and others argued that the complaint’s allegations were straightforward to check and urged that the outgoing contralora’s office or the Contraloría itself be ordered to do a quick preliminary inquiry. Ferrer asked directly whether Vega Furnier had asked BDE employees to care for or pick up her pet; the nominee answered that employees had sometimes picked up the pet in nonworking hours and denied that she had encouraged violation of BDE procedures. The nominee said she would recuse herself (inhibirse) from any audit of the bank and that other staff would carry out any examination.

Procedure and next steps: the commission administered an oath to Vega Furnier at the hearing’s start. The panel’s leadership recorded receipt of the communication from Representatives Márquez Lebrón and Gutiérrez and set a deadline of 1:00 p.m. the same day for anyone behind the anonymous complaint to come forward under oath; no one appeared by that time. The commission’s chairman told the record that staff would prepare a committee report recommending confirmation and that the full House would take a vote later that day.

What remained unresolved at the hearing: lawmakers repeatedly emphasized process rather than making substantive allegations against Vega Furnier herself. Members from the Partido Independentista Puertorriqueño (PIB) said they would withhold a final endorsement until an investigation addressed the anonymous complaint’s merits; other members — including several from the majority and minority parties who spoke at length — said they planned to support her nomination and stressed her private‑sector auditing experience. The commission did not take a confirmation vote during the hearing.

The hearing included several public expressions of support for the nominee: Glorimir Marrero, a BDE employee, read a letter praising Vega Furnier’s leadership at the bank. Numerous mayors and legislators attending in the gallery spoke publicly in favor of the nominee after the question period concluded.

The hearing record shows continuing division over whether the House should delay a confirmation vote pending a preliminary administrative investigation; the commission recorded the complaint and set a short procedural window for the complainant to appear, then moved to complete a committee report to carry the nomination to the floor.

Ending: the commission closed its hearing at 1:19 p.m., with the panel chair saying the committee report would be filed and that a vote by the full House would follow later the same day.