Prosecutor: “No element in the case” to charge king’s daughter in graft probe

The public prosecutor sees no reason to target Cristina de Borbón, the king's youngest daughter, in an ongoing graft investigation involving her husband Iñaki Urdangarin.

"At this time there is no element in the case pointing us toward that," said Eduardo Torres-Dulce after being asked about the latest developments in the Nóos case, including the existence of joint bank accounts and credit cards that were used by the princess with funds from Nóos, the non-profit institute that Urdangarin allegedly used as a cover to channel millions of euros of public money from government contracts to privately owned firms.

However, the prosecutor noted that the decision to include Princess Cristina in the criminal investigation is ultimately up to the Balearic Islands judge, José Castro. If he decides to name the king's daughter as a suspect, then the Anticorruption Attorney's Office will look into the matter and "make the appropriate decision." After that, Castro himself would either support the decision or dissent. "Until then, we are not going to get ahead of ourselves," he insisted.

In recent days Judge Castro has been conducting preliminary investigations into the activities of King Juan Carlos' daughter. On Thursday he requested information about six bank accounts held by Aizoon, a company owned jointly by the couple which received significant amounts of money from Nóos. Earlier this week it emerged that the princess used an Aizoon credit card between 2004 and 2011 to pay for restaurant meals, flowers, cultural activities and clothes for her children. Aizoon lacked personnel and was apparently just a recipient of funds gained by Nóos from the regional governments of Valencia and the Balearic Islands in exchange for sports events that were grossly overcharged, according to the investigation.