Prosecutors to request four-million-euro bail for Urdangarin

Prosecutors pursuing the so-called "Nóos Case" against King Juan Carlos' son-in-law, Iñaki Urdangarin, are seeking bail to be set at four million euros each for the royal and his erstwhile partner, Diego Torres. It is expected that the prosecutor will request the civil liability bond in the next few weeks.

Urdangarin and Torres stand accused of diverting public funds, defrauding public administrations, falsifying documents and corruption.

According to calculations made by experts for the prosecution, the directors of the non-profit Nóos Institute pocketed some three million euros of public money for staging sports and tourism events between 2004 and 2007, either overcharging significantly for services provided or producing false invoices. After receiving the funds - 2.3 million euros from the Balearics and 3.7 million from Valencia - Nóos would subcontract services to private companies owned by Urdangarin and Torres. The royal son-in-law has maintained that he knew nothing of the alleged irregularities at Nóos.

Until now, Urdangarin's wife, Princess Cristina, has been kept out of her husband's affairs but an appeal lodged in the provincial High Court at Palma de Mallorca by far-right organization Manos Limpias to have the king's daughter indicted on the same charges is being studied.

One of the companies to which money was diverted, Aizoon, is joint-owned by the princess and Urdangarin. A decision whether to proceed against Princess Cristina is expected in the coming days.