Iñaki Urdangarin, charged

Judge José Castro, presiding over the Palma Arena investigation into the deviation of public money, has ordered a summons for Iñaki Urdangarin, the Duke of Palma and son-in-law to the Spanish King, to testify regarding alleged irregularities at the Noos Institute during his time its President between 2005 and 2006.

According to Spanish daily paper ‘El Mundo’, the husband of the Spanish Infanta Cristina faces charges of embezzlement, fraud, forgery and prevarication.

The decision to subpoena the Duke came after official proceedings were followed and once the Anticorruption Attorney of the Balearic Islands pointed the finger at a suspected "corporate network", made up of Urdangarin and his business partner Diego Torres which sought to "take possession" of public and private funds intended for the Noos Institute.

The investigation into the Noos Institute, which police have called Operation Babel, began as a result of information which came to light during the Palma Arena case, which began some years ago under the instruction of Judge Castro regarding a number of suspected incidents of corruption detected during the mandate of Jaume Matas.

After being informed that the King’s son-in-law had been charged, the Spanish royal household issued a statement declaring its "total respect" for the judge’s decisions, though they refused to make any further comment.

On December 12th, the husband of Spain’s Princess Cristina was ordered to distance himself from the Royal Family, who considered that his behaviour "was not exemplary".

According to the Royal Family’s financial accounts, which were published yesterday, Urdangarin has never received any public funding from the Palace.