Judge Orders Tax-Fraud Trial for Princess Cristina of Spain
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Version 0 of 1. MADRID — Princess Cristina of Spain was ordered on Monday to stand trial on tax fraud charges, a blow to the hopes of Spain’s royal household to limit the damage to the monarchy’s reputation from a continuing corruption case. The decision on Monday by Judge José Castro, who has been leading the embezzlement investigation, means that Princess Cristina will face trial along with her husband, Iñaki Urdangarin. The monarchy had been hoping that the trial would be limited to Mr. Urdangarin, who has been at the heart of a fraud scandal that coincides with several other political corruption cases that have shaken the institutional foundations of Spain. With the decision, Princess Cristina faces the prospect of becoming the first direct member of the royal family in modern history to answer charges in court. Mr. Urdangarin is accused of using his royal credentials to secure inflated contracts from regional politicians for his sports events company, and then siphoning millions of dollars from the contract fees to other companies and offshore accounts controlled by him and his business associates. Earlier this month, the lead prosecutor, Pedro Horrach, recommended that Princess Cristina only be fined, while her husband alone be tried on the embezzlement charges. However, Judge Castro ignored the prosecutor’s recommendation, ordering Princess Cristina to trial. The judge said that her financial liability in the fraud case was about 2.6 million euros, or about $3.2 million. Judge Castro is based in Palma, the main city in the Balearic Islands where the fraud investigation started four years ago. Though no date was set on Monday for the trial, Spanish news reports suggested that it was likely to be held in the second half of 2015. Both Princess Cristina and her husband have denied any wrongdoing. If convicted of tax fraud, she could be sentenced to four years in prison, but separate money-laundering charges that could have exposed her to as much as 11 years in prison were dropped in November. Princess Cristina’s problems stem mostly from her role in Aizoon, a real estate and consulting company that she owned with her husband. Aizoon is one of the companies that Mr. Urdangarin is alleged to have created to siphon fees paid to his Nóos Institute, the foundation that he used to organize sports events. Mr. Urdangarin, a former Olympic handball player who became Duke of Palma in 1997 upon marrying Princess Cristina, has said that his wife and other members of the royal family had no direct involvement in his business deals and the management of his Nóos foundation. Last year, as the investigation gathered pace, Princess Cristina, 49, moved with her four children to Geneva, to work in the international division of a foundation tied to La Caixa, one of Spain’s largest banks. The bank said that the princess would help develop the foundation’s relations with United Nations agencies and other charitable institutions based in Geneva, though the relocation was widely seen as an attempt to shield the princess and her children from Spanish media scrutiny. Mr. Urdangarin has remained in Barcelona, where the couple had lived in a mansion, whose 2004 purchase for $8 million and subsequent lavish refurbishment have formed part of the corruption investigation. In late 2013, the couple lost that home, when it and three other properties were seized for a civil bond of more than $10 million that her husband and his now-estranged business partner, Diego Torres, were forced to pay as they defend against the embezzlement accusations. Princess Cristina traveled to Palma in February to be questioned by Judge Castro. During the closed-door hearing, she denied knowledge of any fraudulent deals struck by her husband, replying “I don’t know” on 182 occasions to the questions put to her by the judge, including several relating to how she had used her own credit cards, according to El País and other newspapers that obtained a transcript of the hearing. In June, Judge Castro charged 16 people, including Mr. Urdangarin and his wife; Mr. Torres, the business associate; and several officials from the regional governments of the Balearic Islands and Valencia, which awarded the sports contracts. The case coincided with the ascent to the throne of Princess Cristina’s brother as King Felipe VI, succeeding their father, Juan Carlos. In his proclamation speech, Felipe VI promised lawmakers integrity and transparency, as part of “a renovated monarchy for a new time.” Beside the monarchy, most of Spain’s institutions and political parties have become entangled in corruption cases, many in connection with deals struck during the construction boom that came to an abrupt halt in 2008, with the start of the world financial crisis. |