Spanish king brother-in-law avoids prison
Former Duke of Mallorca and the Spanish King’s brother-in-law, Iñaki Urdangarín, won’t go to prison for perversion of justice, fraud and money laundering. Less than a week after being sentenced to six years, this Thursday Palma de Mallorca’s court has ultimately acquitted him. Thus, Urdangarín is now free to return to Switzerland, were he currently lives, and will have to appear before the court in that country once per month while he waits for the Supreme Court's final verdict. His business partner Diego Torres, also sentenced to eight years and six months in prison for his role in the ‘Nóos case’ eluded prison as well. However, the court ordered the confiscation of his passport. The ‘Nóos case’ operation investigated how Urdangarín’s non-profit foundation, the Nóos Institute, obtained no-bid contracts from regional governments, mainly in the Balearic Islands.
Palma de Mallorca (CNA).- Palma de Mallorca’s court refused cautionary imprisonment for the Spanish King’s brother-in-law, Iñaki Urdangarín. The former Duke of Mallorca will have to appear before the court on the 1st of each month as he waits for the Supreme Court’s final verdict. However, he will be able to do this in Switzerland, where he currently lives. Urdangarín was found guilty of perversion of justice, fraud and money laundering and considered the main culprit in the ‘Nóos case’, an operation which investigated how Urdangarín’s non-profit foundation, the Nóos Institute, obtained no-bid contracts from regional governments, mainly in the Balearic Islands. His business partner Diego Torres, also sentenced, to eight years and six months in prison, for his role in the ‘Nóos case’ eluded prison as well. However, the court ordered the confiscation of his passport.
The prosecutor had requested precautionary imprisonment for both Urdangarin and his former business partner, Diego Torres, avoidable with bails of 200,000 and 100,000 euros respectively.
A panel of judges in Palma de Mallorca maintained provisional freedom for both after a two-hour debate following Thursday's hearing.
For Urdangarín, the court required that it must be informed of residency moves or any travel plans outside of the European Union and imposed regular monthly appearances before a court in Geneva, where the former Duke and Duchess of Palma moved with their four children from Barcelona when the first allegations of wrongdoing emerged in 2012.
The judges ordered Torres to surrender his passport and required for him to appear before a Spanish court on the first of each month. His original sentence of eight and a half years in jail on various corruption charges will also be reviewed by the Supreme Court in the coming months.