Spanish prince given court date for charity fraud charge

A SPANISH prince has been served with a summons to appear in court over allegations of rampant corruption in a charitable organisation which he once ran.

Inaki Urdangarin – whose official title is the Duke of Palma de Mallorca – is the husband of King Juan Carlos’ daughter Cristina.

The case surrounding the 43-year-old duke has been front-page news in Spain for weeks. But it went a big step further yesterday when Judge Jose Castro on the Mediterranean island of Mallorca named him as a formal suspect in a criminal probe.

The Balearic Islands Superior Court of Justice said in a statement that the duke has been called to testify on 6 February in Palma, the capital of the archipelago.

While few details have been made about specific charges, the duke has been accused of taking funds of around €6 million (£5.02m) from the Noos Institute – a non-profit organisation used by regional governments to organise sporting events – and directing them into companies which he ran.

The duke, a former Olympic handball player, stepped down from his position at the institute in 2006. The allegations of his misdirection of funds stem from a period of time when he ran the institute between 2004 and 2006.

In early December, the duke was formally suspended from royal duties while investigations were conducted into the affair. The allegations against him are part of a broader corruption investigation of local government officials.

For King Juan Carlos, who is widely respected by many Spaniards and is usually not criticised by the Spanish press, the affair has become something of a public relations nightmare – especially at a time of acute economic crisis for normal Spanish people.

The scandal is also connected to the ruling Popular Party, who governed the Balaeric Islands and Valencia at that time – both local governments with which the duke was working.

An official at the Royal Palace declined to comment yesterday other than to say it “respects the decisions of judges”.

Spain has nearly 22 per cent unemployment, a stagnant economy, mountains of debt and many other woes, so alleged dishonest business dealings by a member of the royal family looks terrible for the Spanish monarchy.

In an unprecedented show of transparency, the palace this week made public the details of the stipend the royal family receives from the national budget. It said that King Juan Carlos earns €292,552 (£245,000) a year in salary and expenses and his son, Crown Prince Felipe, roughly half that amount.

In his annual Christmas Eve speech, the king expressed concern over the declining confidence among Spaniards in public institutions, a remark seen as a reference to the scandal surrounding his son-in-law.

Judge Castro’s order yesterday made public an until-now sealed case file that the newspaper El Pais said contains 2,700 pages.

Since 2009 the duke, Princess Cristina and their four children have lived in Washington, DC, where the duke works for the Spanish telecommunications company Telefonica.

King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia have three children. Crown Prince Felipe is the youngest, Princess Cristina is the middle child and the eldest is Princess Elena.