Princess Cristina committed no tax fraud on her returns, say auditors
Urdangarin’s ex-business partner faces another tax charge
Tax inspectors have concluded that Princess Cristina cannot be investigated for fraud because she has committed no crime or tried in any way to dodge paying her taxes.
In a report given to a judge and made public on Friday, AEAT tax agency officials said that the “only ones without a doubt” who profited from setting up satellite companies to divert some eight million euros in public money were the princess’s husband, Iñaki Urdangarin, and his business partner at the Nóos Institute, Diego Torres.
Auditors have also ruled out prosecuting Torres’ wife, Ana María Tejeiro, who is also being investigated in the Nóos case.
Princess Cristina was a member of the Nóos Institute board and owned a real estate firm with her husband called Aizoon. Prosecutors believe that Nóos money was also funneled through that business.
The report given to Judge José Castro of the Balearic Islands, who has targeted Cristina in the case, is nearly 150 pages. Tax inspectors answer all of the judge’s questions and concerns regarding the royal couple’s tax returns, which go back over the past 10 years.
Castro on Friday decided to implicate Torres on another charge concerning his 2007 returns — the second that he is facing for that year. Urdangarin is facing three possible charges in the case, including two for his taxes and one for allegedly violating Spain’s business partnership laws in 2007 and 2008.
As for Tejeiro, the AEAT inspectors said that while Torres’ wife had participated in decisions taken at Nóos her role at the institute was “limited to internal administrative matters.”
Prosecutors have already said the princess’s role was limited to serving as a spokeswoman on the five-member Nóos board but she had no participation in any of the decisions at the non-profit foundation.
