If you were a rabid royalist or a rabid Republican, you would have already made your mind up about the innocence or guilt of the Infanta before she stepped from her car, having avoided the walk along the ramp of shame that the Infanta's Iñaki has had to endure on the two occasions when he has been invited to appear before Judge Castro in the Palma courthouse.
The overwhelming majority of Spaniards display a singular lack of rabidity when it comes to the royalty or to Republicanism. Most will be inclined, thanks largely to an alarming decline in the popularity of the royal family, to assume that Judge Castro - in whom the people (of Mallorca at any rate) trust - knows what he's doing and that there is substance to the reasons for Princess Cristina being called in for a chat. It doesn't make them rabid Republicans though, even if a recent poll suggested that around 40% of the population would be happy to see the monarchy go. As with political parties, Spaniards tend to be indifferent. There is a national shrug of the shoulders when the elite have their dirty washing aired and then find it folded away neatly in a drawer, having been "archived". For Spaniards, Cristina is like a politician brought to court, the only difference being a title. Their expectation, as with politicians, is that, regardless of whether Castro has strong grounds or not, nothing will happen as a result of the court appearance, and they may well be right to have such an expectation.
Being royalist or Republican should play no part in the court proceedings but in a small way it does, this small way being in the guise of the Frente Cívico Somos Mayoría, a movement formed by the ex-leader of the United Left, a Republican-favouring party. It is one of two organisations that have brought what are in effect private prosecutions against the Princess. The other is Manos Limpias, a "union" which is about as far removed politically from the Frente Cívico as you can get. Which doesn't make it royalist. Quite the contrary. Given its background, Manos Limpias is essentially a Francoist organisation, and Francoists have little time for a Bourbon king who turned his back on Francoism when he had the chance to support it not once but twice. By extension, therefore, they have little time for anyone else with a Bourbon connection.
The presence of lawyers on behalf of these two diametrically opposite bodies in the court has added to the surreal nature of events in Palma. The world's media has flown in in great number, thus lending support to the notion that Palma could be forging a new niche in tourism - celebrity trial tourism - to indulge in the Infanta infatuation. The newsworthiness of the occasion is that she's the daughter of the King and that daughters of the King or any other member of the royal family, other than those who have married into it (Iñaki), don't do court appearances. One thing is for sure. Whatever happens (and nothing will), Judge Castro has secured for himself a place in legal history: the judge who put a royal in the dock.
But of course she isn't actually in the dock. She has only been called in to answer questions from a list as long as both Judge Castro's arms. And there are other questions, those from the chief anti-corruption prosecutor, Pedro Horrach, which is another surreal element. Horrach doesn't believe the Princess has a case to answer. Nevertheless, he gets his turn to ask questions, too.
Having replied to most of these questions by saying that she didn't know anything about her husband's business affairs and alleged criminality, what happens next? The chances of her being put on trial are remote in the extreme. Indeed, if the prosecutor is insufficiently moved to change his mind, it is hard to see how Judge Castro could proceed. There has to be a prosecutor, and while Manos Limpias might see itself cast in such a role, this would also be extremely unlikely. Moreover, it would be extraordinarily damaging. Just imagine, a Francoist organisation leading the interrogation of the daughter of the King.
The more likely outcome is that the whole thing will be "archived", the legal fudge which does permit the reopening of a case but typically puts an end to the whole matter. Even if he still believes there is a case against the Princess, Castro may have no alternative but to resort to archiving. And so the Spanish people will indeed shrug their shoulders because this will be what they might have expected to have happened, thus making them question what the point of the court appearance was.
Showing posts with label Court appearance. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Court appearance. Show all posts
Sunday, February 09, 2014
Thursday, January 24, 2013
MALLORCA TODAY - Urdangarin will testify again in February
Palma can prepare for another day of high media interest when, on 23 February, a year after his first appearance in court, Iñaki Urdangarin (the Duke of Palma) will be asked to declare in front of Judge Castro. The specifics of this appearance relate to alleged fraud committed by the King's son-in-law's Instituto Nóos between 2007 and 2008. Urdangarin's former business partner, Diego Torres, will testify the week before.
See more: Diario de Mallorca
See more: Diario de Mallorca
Monday, February 27, 2012
MALLORCA TODAY - The Duke of Palma still has questions to answer
Finally, at 01.30 in the morning, the interrogations of the Duke of Palma (Iñaki Urdangarin) came to an end. At 04.15, he left the court, having spent further time revising papers to do with his declaration. The lawyer representing Manos Limpias, the union that had brought a "popular" action against the Duke, did not press for charges to be laid as had been expected.
Judge Castro had made it clear that he did not believe that the marathon proceedings of yesterday were the time for charges to be laid (if they are going to be). The judge, though, may well want the Duke to return to court to make a further declaration, as there were so many evasions in the Duke's responses - he did not know answers or could not remember events.
The Duke's position, that he disassociated himself from the Instituto Nóos in 2006, has become increasingly questionable. In his declaration last week, the former director of sports in the Balearics, Pepote Ballester, suggested that the Duke had not. The Duke has admitted that he phoned Ballester and his former business partner Diego Torres in 2007 regarding the payment of 400,000 euros in respect of the sports forums organised in Mallorca. There is also evidence of email contact between the Duke and Torres in 2008 regarding various projects.
The Duke has looked to make Torres culpable, arguing that Torres robbed him, and has insisted that his wife, Princess Cristina, had nothing to do with Nóos or with the Aizoon real-estate company, other than being a director. Aizoon is one of the many companies that the Duke was associated with which, it is alleged, were used for the diversion of funds.
The royal household had apparently expressed disquiet as to the length of the interrogations of the Duke.
Judge Castro had made it clear that he did not believe that the marathon proceedings of yesterday were the time for charges to be laid (if they are going to be). The judge, though, may well want the Duke to return to court to make a further declaration, as there were so many evasions in the Duke's responses - he did not know answers or could not remember events.
The Duke's position, that he disassociated himself from the Instituto Nóos in 2006, has become increasingly questionable. In his declaration last week, the former director of sports in the Balearics, Pepote Ballester, suggested that the Duke had not. The Duke has admitted that he phoned Ballester and his former business partner Diego Torres in 2007 regarding the payment of 400,000 euros in respect of the sports forums organised in Mallorca. There is also evidence of email contact between the Duke and Torres in 2008 regarding various projects.
The Duke has looked to make Torres culpable, arguing that Torres robbed him, and has insisted that his wife, Princess Cristina, had nothing to do with Nóos or with the Aizoon real-estate company, other than being a director. Aizoon is one of the many companies that the Duke was associated with which, it is alleged, were used for the diversion of funds.
The royal household had apparently expressed disquiet as to the length of the interrogations of the Duke.
The Power To Corrupt
If the Duke of Palma's appearances in court were to have a British parallel, it would be like Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence being up before the beak for allegedly fiddling a few invoices, though to be more sportingly accurate, it would be preferable were Captain Mark Phillips in the dock. An Olympic gold medallist, he does share a sporting background with the Duke who, as simple Iñaki Urdangarin, was an Olympic handball medallist.
What do former Olympic medallists with royal connections do once they are no longer participants in their sports? They stay with sport. Captain Mark has gone on to be a successful horsey person. Iñaki has gone on to be a sort of Mr. Fixer for sport of all sorts. Perhaps he should have stuck with handball, the sport he knew.
How has the Duke come to be in a Palma court? Partly, it is because, like many sportspeople, his life remained sport after he had ceased to be a player. The impulse is strong. It is one that makes managers, coaches, pundits and administrators of former players. It, the sport, is all they know. But normally, they stick with the one sport they knew. The Duke became positively Olympian in terms of his sporting interests.
It may have been the Duke's misfortune, or fortune if you prefer, to have sought to carve out a sports marketing career at the same time as Jaume Matas was president of the Balearics. Matas has been exposed as a vain man, one who coveted the company of celebrity (and royalty) and who puffed himself up with grandiose projects or ideas for projects of a sporting nature. The "caso Palma Arena" takes its name from the velodrome. It was just one of Matas' pet schemes. Another was the preposterous idea of staging a grand prix on the streets of Palma.
Making sense of the trail that has led to what has not been a trial but a declaration in front of the judge reveals a whole world of sport that the Duke inhabited. The case against him first surfaced when the judge investigating the "caso Palma Arena" was inclined to consider arrangements between the Fundación Illesport (and IBATUR, the now defunct-because-of-corruption tourism agency) and the Duke's Instituto Nóos that related to international sports forums in Mallorca at the time of Matas' second presidency.
This was not the first time the Duke's institute had dabbled in grand sports gatherings. There had been the Valencia Summit in 2004, an annual sporting debate. There had been the European Games that weren't, also in Valencia, for which initially Nóos was to receive three million euros from the Valencia administration (it came to less than half this). Then there was the Palma Arena itself and an alleged 2.3 million euros from the Matas government to Nóos. And there was advice in respect of Villarreal football club; a ten-page report cost nearly 700,000 euros.
To itemise all the bits of evidence, if only in outline, would take much more than a ten-page report. How much paperwork the prosecutors and the judge have to consider is anyone's guess, as it requires untangling the network of companies with which the Duke was said to have had an association and the movement of funds to the UK, the USA and Belize. The Duke, in his declaration, has intimated that he knew little or nothing of these companies. They were under the management of his former business partner Diego Torres.
Through this network, so it is claimed, contracts from local authorities - the Balearics, Valencia, Alcalá de Henares, Mataró - were turned into subcontracts to companies operated by the Duke and for which unrealistic charges were made and payments sent offshore into tax havens.
The Duke has, however, further intimated that he only got involved with sports matters. Sport is all he knows, one might conclude. Olympic medallist he was, but he also acquired a diploma in business science from the University of Barcelona, is licensed in business management and had gained an MBA from ESADE, one of Spain's leading business schools.
The Duke will discover whether or not he is to face charges. This is why he has been in court; to establish whether there are grounds for formal charges.
Whether charges are laid or not, the Duke's story shows that sport, meant to have the power for good, can just as easily have the power to corrupt. His sporting background was the Olympics, his sporting interests were Olympian in scope, and the Olympics movement itself was once the embodiment of how sport can corrupt.
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
What do former Olympic medallists with royal connections do once they are no longer participants in their sports? They stay with sport. Captain Mark has gone on to be a successful horsey person. Iñaki has gone on to be a sort of Mr. Fixer for sport of all sorts. Perhaps he should have stuck with handball, the sport he knew.
How has the Duke come to be in a Palma court? Partly, it is because, like many sportspeople, his life remained sport after he had ceased to be a player. The impulse is strong. It is one that makes managers, coaches, pundits and administrators of former players. It, the sport, is all they know. But normally, they stick with the one sport they knew. The Duke became positively Olympian in terms of his sporting interests.
It may have been the Duke's misfortune, or fortune if you prefer, to have sought to carve out a sports marketing career at the same time as Jaume Matas was president of the Balearics. Matas has been exposed as a vain man, one who coveted the company of celebrity (and royalty) and who puffed himself up with grandiose projects or ideas for projects of a sporting nature. The "caso Palma Arena" takes its name from the velodrome. It was just one of Matas' pet schemes. Another was the preposterous idea of staging a grand prix on the streets of Palma.
Making sense of the trail that has led to what has not been a trial but a declaration in front of the judge reveals a whole world of sport that the Duke inhabited. The case against him first surfaced when the judge investigating the "caso Palma Arena" was inclined to consider arrangements between the Fundación Illesport (and IBATUR, the now defunct-because-of-corruption tourism agency) and the Duke's Instituto Nóos that related to international sports forums in Mallorca at the time of Matas' second presidency.
This was not the first time the Duke's institute had dabbled in grand sports gatherings. There had been the Valencia Summit in 2004, an annual sporting debate. There had been the European Games that weren't, also in Valencia, for which initially Nóos was to receive three million euros from the Valencia administration (it came to less than half this). Then there was the Palma Arena itself and an alleged 2.3 million euros from the Matas government to Nóos. And there was advice in respect of Villarreal football club; a ten-page report cost nearly 700,000 euros.
To itemise all the bits of evidence, if only in outline, would take much more than a ten-page report. How much paperwork the prosecutors and the judge have to consider is anyone's guess, as it requires untangling the network of companies with which the Duke was said to have had an association and the movement of funds to the UK, the USA and Belize. The Duke, in his declaration, has intimated that he knew little or nothing of these companies. They were under the management of his former business partner Diego Torres.
Through this network, so it is claimed, contracts from local authorities - the Balearics, Valencia, Alcalá de Henares, Mataró - were turned into subcontracts to companies operated by the Duke and for which unrealistic charges were made and payments sent offshore into tax havens.
The Duke has, however, further intimated that he only got involved with sports matters. Sport is all he knows, one might conclude. Olympic medallist he was, but he also acquired a diploma in business science from the University of Barcelona, is licensed in business management and had gained an MBA from ESADE, one of Spain's leading business schools.
The Duke will discover whether or not he is to face charges. This is why he has been in court; to establish whether there are grounds for formal charges.
Whether charges are laid or not, the Duke's story shows that sport, meant to have the power for good, can just as easily have the power to corrupt. His sporting background was the Olympics, his sporting interests were Olympian in scope, and the Olympics movement itself was once the embodiment of how sport can corrupt.
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
Sunday, February 26, 2012
MALLORCA TODAY - Duke of Palma in court - day two
After the Lord Mayor's Show, this morning's events outside the court were quite different. It is Sunday morning after all. No more than 20 protesters, and the Duke arrived for the second day of declaration in a more relaxed mood.
The Duke is expected to insist that Princess Cristina had nothing to do with the Instiuto Nóos. Meanwhile, revelations keep emerging, the latest being the apparent existence of false invoices related to the European Games, something the Duke was involved with along with the Valencia regional government, but which didn't take place.
The Duke has said that the alleged contracting of phantom employees at the Instituto Nóos was a matter to do with his ex-business partner Diego Torres. He has admitted that he was involved with a regional government payment of 400,000 euros to the institute in respect of a sports promotional forum held in Mallorca but that the exact amount of payment was not something he controlled. He has continued to insist that he knew nothing about the network of companies with which he was said to be involved. Lunch taken at just after 14:00.
Update: The real-estate company Aizoon, in which Pincess Cristina was a partner, was the sole responsibility of the Duke, he has testified. Money from Nóos, it has been suggested, was diverted to Aizoon.
The judge lost patience at one point with the Duke's evasiveness and inability to remember, suggesting it might have been better had he not come to declare. After some 15 hours of questioning, the judge handed over to the prosecutors at around 17:30.
The Duke has accused Diego Torres of having negotiated contracts with local governments off his own back.
Update (20:30): The proceedings seem to be becoming increasingly absurd. Some lawyers are unhappy that the judge took so long in his questioning, and with others, in addition to the prosecutors, to lodge their questions, it is possible they could all be there into the early morning. How can anyone be expected to give reasonable evidence (or reasonable questions) after such a protracted session? They should call it a day and come back again. Ridiculous.
On and on they go. The judge has indicated that if there is to be an injunction served on the Duke it will not be today. There is also now a suggestion that, because of the evasiveness of the Duke, Princess Cristina may be called to declare. Thankfully, not today or nearly tomorrow. The prosecutors have just about finished their questions. It is now 23:30.
The Duke is expected to insist that Princess Cristina had nothing to do with the Instiuto Nóos. Meanwhile, revelations keep emerging, the latest being the apparent existence of false invoices related to the European Games, something the Duke was involved with along with the Valencia regional government, but which didn't take place.
The Duke has said that the alleged contracting of phantom employees at the Instituto Nóos was a matter to do with his ex-business partner Diego Torres. He has admitted that he was involved with a regional government payment of 400,000 euros to the institute in respect of a sports promotional forum held in Mallorca but that the exact amount of payment was not something he controlled. He has continued to insist that he knew nothing about the network of companies with which he was said to be involved. Lunch taken at just after 14:00.
Update: The real-estate company Aizoon, in which Pincess Cristina was a partner, was the sole responsibility of the Duke, he has testified. Money from Nóos, it has been suggested, was diverted to Aizoon.
The judge lost patience at one point with the Duke's evasiveness and inability to remember, suggesting it might have been better had he not come to declare. After some 15 hours of questioning, the judge handed over to the prosecutors at around 17:30.
The Duke has accused Diego Torres of having negotiated contracts with local governments off his own back.
Update (20:30): The proceedings seem to be becoming increasingly absurd. Some lawyers are unhappy that the judge took so long in his questioning, and with others, in addition to the prosecutors, to lodge their questions, it is possible they could all be there into the early morning. How can anyone be expected to give reasonable evidence (or reasonable questions) after such a protracted session? They should call it a day and come back again. Ridiculous.
On and on they go. The judge has indicated that if there is to be an injunction served on the Duke it will not be today. There is also now a suggestion that, because of the evasiveness of the Duke, Princess Cristina may be called to declare. Thankfully, not today or nearly tomorrow. The prosecutors have just about finished their questions. It is now 23:30.
Saturday, February 25, 2012
MALLORCA TODAY - The Duke of Palma's day in court
Rarely has any event in Mallorca attracted as much interest as today's appearance by the Duke of Palma (Iñaki Urdangarin) at the court in Palma to face questioning over the so-called "caso Nóos". Speculation has been rife as to how the Duke will arrive at court - on foot or by car; various protest groups will be out in force, such as the Maulets (independence radicals); police will also be out in force, extra officers having been drafted in from Valencia, along with the media.
The Duke faces charges of fraud and tax evasion, his marketing organisation the Instituto Nóos being at the centre of the charges which relate, among other things, to invoices for work that allegedly was not performed but for which government agencies paid substantial amounts of public money during the last presidency of Jaume Matas; the "caso Nóos" has, in effect, become a part of the ongoing "caso Palma Arena" investigations and trials of the former president for embezzlement and fraud.
The case has embroiled the royal family, as the Duke is married to the King's daughter, Princess Cristina. Her involvement with the case, though she has yet to be indicted and may not be, is largely to do with a real-estate firm she ran with the Duke and alleged diversion of money to this firm.
Update: So, the Duke entered on foot after all, though his car had some eggs thrown at it. 500 demonstrators protested against corruption and the monarchy. The Duke said he was seeking the truth and to defend his honour. He has admitted to the judge that the King ordered him to disassociate himself from the Instituto Nóos back in 2006.
Update: Prior to a break for lunch at 14:00, the Duke was asked mainly about the various companies that are cited in the case and with which he had associations.
The Duke has said that he did not take decisions where these companies were concerned but that the management was left to his former business partner Diego Torres and that involvement he had was confined to matters to do with sport.
Update: The Duke has said that he did meet with Jaume Matas and the former director of sport for the Balearics, "Pepote" Ballester at the Marivent palace where they discussed governmental financial support for a cycling team run by the bank Banesto and for which his company could act in marketing. It seemed a good idea to the Duke who claims that arrangements were left in the hands of Diego Torres.
Update: The Duke has declared that money from Nóos went to Belize for a foundation for sick children. The judge has indicated that he wants to finish the interrogation of the Duke today, which could mean the court session lasting to almost midnight.
Update: Showing how complex the affairs of the Duke were, questions have arisen regarding a settlement of 300,000 euros through one of the Duke's companies Global Corporate, itself linked to the Belize foundation. Global Corporate has two subsidiaries in the USA in addition to a Spanish base.
Update: Judge Castro has called a halt to proceedings at just after 20:00. Everyone will be back tomorrow at 09:30. Cue more demos no doubt.
The Duke faces charges of fraud and tax evasion, his marketing organisation the Instituto Nóos being at the centre of the charges which relate, among other things, to invoices for work that allegedly was not performed but for which government agencies paid substantial amounts of public money during the last presidency of Jaume Matas; the "caso Nóos" has, in effect, become a part of the ongoing "caso Palma Arena" investigations and trials of the former president for embezzlement and fraud.
The case has embroiled the royal family, as the Duke is married to the King's daughter, Princess Cristina. Her involvement with the case, though she has yet to be indicted and may not be, is largely to do with a real-estate firm she ran with the Duke and alleged diversion of money to this firm.
Update: So, the Duke entered on foot after all, though his car had some eggs thrown at it. 500 demonstrators protested against corruption and the monarchy. The Duke said he was seeking the truth and to defend his honour. He has admitted to the judge that the King ordered him to disassociate himself from the Instituto Nóos back in 2006.
Update: Prior to a break for lunch at 14:00, the Duke was asked mainly about the various companies that are cited in the case and with which he had associations.
The Duke has said that he did not take decisions where these companies were concerned but that the management was left to his former business partner Diego Torres and that involvement he had was confined to matters to do with sport.
Update: The Duke has said that he did meet with Jaume Matas and the former director of sport for the Balearics, "Pepote" Ballester at the Marivent palace where they discussed governmental financial support for a cycling team run by the bank Banesto and for which his company could act in marketing. It seemed a good idea to the Duke who claims that arrangements were left in the hands of Diego Torres.
Update: The Duke has declared that money from Nóos went to Belize for a foundation for sick children. The judge has indicated that he wants to finish the interrogation of the Duke today, which could mean the court session lasting to almost midnight.
Update: Showing how complex the affairs of the Duke were, questions have arisen regarding a settlement of 300,000 euros through one of the Duke's companies Global Corporate, itself linked to the Belize foundation. Global Corporate has two subsidiaries in the USA in addition to a Spanish base.
Update: Judge Castro has called a halt to proceedings at just after 20:00. Everyone will be back tomorrow at 09:30. Cue more demos no doubt.
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