Spain’s Princess Cristina charged in Noos corruption case

PRINCESS Cristina has been charged in the Noos corruption case.

Judge Jose Castro has summonsed her to testify in court in Palma on April 27 as part of the case in which her husband is accused of diverting €6 million of public funds from the Noos Institute.

The royal son-in-law, Iñaki Urdangarin and his associate Diego Torres are accused of creating a network of companies to embezzle funds.

The Noos Institute was a non-profit consultancy which billed regional governments more than €5 million for events to promote sport and tourism.

E-mails revealed in court by Torres suggest that Cristina was involved in its management. Documents of interest were found in the safe of the headquarters of Aizoon, the promoter’s office shared by the Duke and Duchess of Palma.

One email from Iñaki to Cristina’s work address at La Caixa Foundation in February 2003 reads: “As you’re online, I’ll send you a letter I have to send for Noos. There are two versions. Clients, collaborators and friends, and the other for Octagon. Read it and tell me what you think…”

In other emails Iñaki reportedly explains to her how Noos works and what business is being carried out. There are emails to the ‘Noos Clients’ mailing list, in which the king and queen are also included. There are also messages regarding Noos between the Urdangarin and Royal Household Advisor Carlos Garcia Revenga, some of which reveal he was seeking celebrities to take part in conferences, including Bob Geldof and Neil Armstrong.

A member of Noos staff also asked Garcia to contact the Principe de Asturias Foundation to update his CV, and Urdangarin himself asked him how he should approach a friend of the prince’s to discuss a foundation for sports for the disabled.

Iñaki was charged in December 2011 and has since appeared in court in February 2012 and February 2013.