Transfer from Nóos firm ended up in account used by Princess Cristina

Money transferred from a company jointly owned by Princess Cristina and her husband Iñaki Urdangarin that allegedly received public funds siphoned off from Urdangarin’s non-profit Nóos Institute ended up in a personal bank account held by the couple, judicial sources said Wednesday.

The money transferred from the Aizóon real estate company — in two transactions, one for 125,000 euros and the other for 25,000 — was initially sent to an account jointly held by Princess Cristina and the Duke of Palma before being moved to one on which the infanta was an authorized user but was formally held by her husband.

According to information requested by investigating Judge José Castro from the bank involved in the transactions, the first transfer was made on December 27, 2006 when the Nóos Institute was heavily involved in organizing public events for the regional administrations of the Balearic Islands and Valencia.

Castro is waiting for further information from the Tax Agency and the police before deciding whether to call the princess in for questioning. A Balearics court had previously overruled Castro's initial decision to formally name Cristina in the case, but acknowledged that possible financial crimes by the princess through Aizóon could not be “ruled out.” The court concluded that Aizóon was a front company to “receive public and private money and had no employees or apparent activities.”

Urdangarin and his former business partner, Diego Torres, have been formerly implicated in the Nóos investigation into possible fraud, tax evasion, falsifying documents and embezzlement.