Spain’s king brother-in-law given six years in prison for corruption scandal

Spain’s king’s brother-in-law and former Duke of Mallorca, Iñaki Urdangarín, has been sentenced to six years in prison for perversion of justice, falsification and money laundering. He was one of the main responsible of the so-called ‘Nóos case’, an operation which investigated how Urgandarín’s non-profit foundation Nóos Institute obtained no-bid contracts from regional governments. His wife, Philip VI’s sister Cristina de Borbón, who was also accused of tax fraud complicity, has been finally acquitted by Palma de Mallorca’s court and will have to pay 265,000 euros fine. Former president of the Balearic Islands, Jaume Matas, who had 50% of the company ‘Nóos’ shares, has been sentenced to three years and eight months in prison while Urdangarin’s partner in the company will have to face an 8 years prison sentence.

The so-called ‘Nóos case’ investigates an alleged corruption scandal which involved the government of the Balearic Islands and part of the Royal Family. The leaders of the nonprofit foundation Nóos Institute, Iñaki Urdangarín, then Duke of Palma de Mallorca, and his business partner Diego Torres were accused of using Nóos and a corporate network of companies to embezzle about 6 million euros in public funds for sporting events. The charges were perversion of justice, falsification and money laundering.