Infanta Cristina and Urdangarín's trial includes 363 witnesses and several politicians in the dock
Infanta Cristina and Urdangarín's trial includes 363 witnesses and several politicians in the dock
KING Felipe's youngest sister, the Infanta Elena's trial for alleged money-laundering and tax evasion will be under discussion this coming Friday in the court of Palma de Mallorca to decide how many hearings will take place, who will be called up as witnesses and to what extent the press will be allowed to be involved.
Given the magnitude of the trial – the first time in history that a member of the Spanish Royal family has appeared in the dock – an exhaustive amount of planning is needed before the case comes to court on January 11 next year.
Legal authorities will also decide whether or not to accept the defence lawyer's request to put back the trial by two weeks, given that he also has two other corruption cases to represent on that day.
It has taken over five years for judge José Castro to investigate the disappearance of around €6.2 million in public funds from the regional governments of Valencia, Madrid and the Balearic Islands.
Three magistrates – one man and two women – make up the panel of judges.
The accused parties, aside from the Infanta Cristina and her husband Iñaki Urdangarín – who have had their titles of Duchess and Duke of Palma respectively withdrawn by Cristina's own brother, Felipe VI – are Urdangarín's ex-co director Diego Torres and his wife Ana María Tejeiro, the former accountant for the two men's company, the Nóos Institute, Marco Antonio Tejeiro, its ex-legal advisor Miguel Tejeiro, and the lawyer said to have helped them in their international tax evasion racket, Salvador Trinxet.
Former Balearic Island regional president Jaume Matas, his ex-director general for sports José Luis 'Pepote' Ballester, the ex-manager of the IlleSport Foundation Gonzalo Bernal, former legal advisor for the Balearic tourist board Miquel Àngel Bonet, and the ex-manager of the latter, Juan Carlos Alía.
Previous high-ranking politicians from the Valencia region in the dock are ex-secretary for events Luis Lobón, former director-general of the City of Arts and Sciences complex Jorge Vela, ex-organising manager Elisa Maldonado, former director-general of her department José Manuel Aguilar, and ex-deputy mayor of Valencia city Alfonso Grau.
Former MP for district Madrid-16 Mercedes Coghen concludes the list.
Between them all, they are facing more than a century in jail.
Urdangarín could be sentenced to 19 years behind bars, and the Infanta Cristina eight years.
If she goes to prison, she will make history as the first Royal in Spain ever to have done so.
But if her sentence is reduced to two years or less, as hers is a first offence, she will not have to serve it.
It appears very unlikely, however, that her husband will get away without having to go to prison.
In the Infanta's case, it is the private prosecution brought by the association Manos Limpias ('clean hands') which is calling for her custodial term, rather than the public prosecution.
The association, and judge Castro, both consider that the multi-million money-laundering offences could not have happened without the knowledge and consent of the Infanta.
She was 50% owner of the dormant front company Aizoon, which was invoiced and paid out for Urdangarín's 'management consultant services' in order to hide large amounts of allegedly fraudulently-obtained public funds.
Personal, domestic expenses were offset against the company for income tax purposes to reduce the bill, meaning a total of €337,138 was said to have been evaded for the tax years 2007 and 2008.
The Nóos Institute had been set up as a non-profit entity to promote and organise sports and culture events, which benefited from regional government grants to fund them.
Invoices for the Institute's services in setting up the events were inflated, and the difference shared out between Urdangarín and Torres, the court heard.
They then invoiced Aizoon for management consultancy fees to accredit the source of the money.
It is not known at this stage whether the politicians involved in providing the funds for the events, which Urdangarín was able to drum up support for through his Royal connection making him a public celebrity, did so in cahoots with Urdangarín and Torres or whether they were duped.
Among the 363 witnesses subpoenaed are former deputy president of the national government, ex-chairman of the International Monetary Fund (FMI) and ex-minister for the economy Rodrigo Rato, who is also facing his own tax-evasion charges; former mayor of Madrid city, president of the Greater Madrid region and ex-minister of justice for the central government Alberto Ruiz-Gallardón, former regional president of Valencia Francisco Camps, and former high-ranking public figureheads of the Royal Zarzuela Palace, Carlos García Revenga and Alberto Aza.
Although inquiries technically began in early 2010, it was not until November 2011 when the full extent of the case started to become known after a raid on the Nóos Institute offices and those of various companies within its umbrella.
The fact that the sister of the then Prince Felipe of Asturias and daughter of the now-abdicated King Juan Carlos I appeared as spokeswoman for the board of directors of the Nóos Institute and 50% owner of Aizoon began to lead to suspicions about how much she knew, or otherwise, of the alleged illegal dealings by her husband and his business partner.
In a preliminary hearing, the Infanta maintained she had nothing to do with either