Spain’s Court of Auditors to seize assets of 28 Catalan former officials

Spain’s Court of Auditors is set to seize the assets of 28 Catalan former officials accused of illicit foreign action from 2011 to 2017 for whom the Catalan Public Finance Institute had put up a€5.4 million guarantee. The accounting body rejected the Catalan government’s move to cover the potential fine on Thursday morning after calling it into question when it was first announced last July.

The public Finance Institute attempted to put up the money to prevent these individuals, including former president Artur Mas and exiled president Carles Puigdemont, from having their assets seized as the Court of Auditors deliberates on whether they should ultimately be fined or not. The Court of Auditors continues to look into their civil liability although the Supreme Court ruling only made mention of €2.02m in misused public funds associated with the organization of the 2017 referendum.

A total of 34 former government employees were accused of illegally promoting the Catalan push for independence abroad throughout the 2010s – a charge that was not addressed in the 2019 Supreme Court trial of 9 leaders who were sentenced, and then pardoned, for the 2017 referendum.