Falling-out between Urdangarin and former partner sparks new threats

Diego Torres, Iñaki Urdangarin's ex-partner at the Nóos Institute, is prepared to tell all to the judge.

According to sources, the indicted Torres, who is engaged in a public battle through court filings with the royal son-in-law over who is to blame for the alleged embezzlement that took place at Nóos, wants to give investigating Judge José Castro more emails in his possession, which purportedly could compromise the reputation of King Juan Carlos, when he appears to deliver his next testimony on May 22.

Since early this year, Torres' lawyers have been making veiled threats against Urdangarin through a set of court filings containing some of the emails which suggest that the king used his influence to convince others to do business with Urdangarin.

Other lawyers in the case call Torres' strategy "gross and unacceptable blackmail."

The Royal Household has preferred not to issue any official comment on the emails that are now part of the court record. Other sources close to the king say that the monarch isn't afraid of anything else more damaging that might surface because he believes that he has acted correctly at all times.

Yet, they add that the king hasn't ruled out that Urdangarin may have said or written something in those emails "that was inconvenient," and that Torres is engaging in an "unfortunate application" with intent to extort and have "someone else pay for the plates that he broke."

Some lawyers call the strategy "gross and unacceptable blackmail"

Torres' lawyer, Manuel González Peeters, has denied in a court motion that he is pressuring "directly or indirectly" the anti-corruption prosecutors in the Balearic Islands in order to gain a sweet plea deal for his client in exchange for not divulging the emails' content.

Both Torres and Urdangarin are facing charges of defrauding the Balearic Islands government of public money that was intended solely for the non-profit Nóos Institute. Prosecutors say that Urdangarin diverted the money to his own private businesses with Torres' help. The two defendants have denied the charges.

Between 2004 and 2006, the Nóos Institute received some 10 million euros from the Balearics and Valencia regional governments to organize a series of sports and tourism conferences.

According to sources, Torres is prepared to tell the judge how Urdangarin allegedly told him to sign all the official documents concerning 300,000 euros that Nóos received to organize the European Games in Valencia - an event that was never held - because it "was better" that his name did not appear in any of the institute's transactions.