Inaki Urdangarin, King of Spain’s son-in-law, questioned in corruption probe
Inaki Urdangarin, Princess Cristina husband, leaves the courthouse of Palma de Mallorca after giving evidence during the during the ‘Palma Arena trial’ on February 23, 2013 in Palma de Mallorca, Spain. The son-in-law of King Juan Carlos of Spain, Inaki Urdangarin, Duke of Palma testified in court over allegations that he misused millions of euros of public funds, allocated to organise sports and tourism events, during his time a chairman of a non-profit foundation from 2004 to 2006. Public prosecutors suspect the non-profit foundation named ‘Instituo Noos’, headed by Urdangarin, of siphoning away funds from public contracts awarded to companies run by Urdangarin and his business partners.
Inaki Urdangarin, the Duke of Palma, was questioned in Mallorca Saturday over his suspected role in embezzling millions of euros in public funds.
The son-in-law of the King of Spain has not yet been charged of any crimes, but has been interrogated twice so far over the matter, BBC News reported.
Urdangarin and his former business partner Diego Torres are both believed to have taken as much as $8 million of taxpayer money through the Noos Institute, a non-profit that organized sports and cultural events, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Torres also faced questioning from Judge Jose Castro last week, and it was reported that many damaging documents, including e-mail correspondence between the two, the Independent reported.
Spain's king Juan Carlos has been distanced from the affair, as Urdangarin released a statement in his defense saying that Carlos "had no opinion, did not advise and did not authorize" his activities with Noos, which has been reported.
"On the contrary, when the accusations arose, the palace recommended I stop any activity not considered appropriate to my institutional status, which I did," the king's son-in-law added, BBC News reported.
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