January 11, 2016
Spain’s Princess Cristina and her husband go on trial today under intense global media scrutiny in a landmark corruption case that has outraged the country and sullied the monarchy’s reputation.
Cristina, a 50-year-old mother-of-four with a master’s degree from New York University, will be the first Spanish royal to face criminal charges in court since the monarchy was reinstated following the 1975 death of dictator General Francisco Franco.
The case is centred on the shady business deals of the Noos Institute, a charitable organisation based in Palma which Urdangarin, 47, chaired from 2004 to 2006.
He and his former business partner Diego Torres are suspected of embezzling 6.2 million euros ($6.7 million) in public funds paid by two regional governments to the organisation to stage sporting and other types of events.Cristina has been charged with tax evasion while her husband is accused of the more serious crimes of embezzlement, influence peddling, document falsification, money laundering and tax fraud.
If convicted Cristina – who has denied wrongdoing – faces a jail term of up to eight years. Urdangarin faces more than 19 years in prison.