Judge imposes bail of €8m on Urdangarin and former business partner

A judge in the Balearic Islands on Wednesday ordered Iñaki Urdangarin and his former business partner Diego Torres to jointly post an 8.1-million-euro civil bond to cover the amount of money they are alleged to have siphoned off from public funds that were destined to their non-profit Nóos Institute.

Judge José Castro, who is investigating the diversion of money at the now-defunct entity and has targeted both the royal son-in-law and Torres in his inquiry, said the two defendants have five days to post the bond or the court will embargo their properties.

The figure of 8.1 million euros is the same that prosecutors alleged that both earned in contracts awarded to Nóos Institute by the Balearic and Valencia regional governments to set up sports and tourism events.

Urdangarin, the husband of Princess Cristina, is scheduled to testify before Judge Castro on February 23. He has already appeared before the court last summer.

On Tuesday, Castro formally named as an official suspect Princess Cristina’s private secretary Carlos García Revenga, who also served as treasurer at the institute, an official suspect.