Urdangarin devised corruption scheme, Nóos accountant confesses

The former accountant at Iñaki Urdangarin’s Nóos Institute has agreed to cooperate with the prosecutor as part of a corruption investigation into the organization’s activities.

Marco Antonio Tejeiro, who is an official suspect in the case, has revealed to prosecutor Pedro Horrach how the network of individual companies surrounding the institute run by Princess Cristina’s husband really functioned, including how fake invoices and fictional employment contracts were used to generate tax benefits and how funds were shared out among the partners.

The prosecutor delivered the written statement of agreement signed by Tejeiro – who is the brother-in-law of Diego Torres, Urdangarin’s partner at Nóos – and lawyer Daniel Pérez-Esqué to the Palma de Mallorca court at midday on Thursday following secret conversations between the parties. As a result of his confession and expression of remorse, it is likely that Tejeiro will receive a reduction to any prison sentence he might later be given.

Tejeiro’s collaboration marks a key step in the possible verification of the criminal accusation that the anticorruption prosecutor is maintaining against the supposed leaders of the operation, which allegedly embezzled around €6 million in public money from the regional governments of Valencia and the Balearic Islands by securing lucrative contracts and charging overinflated prices for organizing sports events.

Tejeiro is under investigation for perversion of justice, embezzlement of public funds, administrative fraud, influence peddling, tax evasion, fraud and falsifying official and mercantile documents.

It is a dramatic move for the public prosecutor as the Nóos investigation comes to a climax. The anticorruption prosecutor is trying to put the spotlight on Torres and Urdangarin as the alleged chiefs and architects of the corruption plot and away from Princess Cristina.

Marco Tejeiro has admitted to and accepted responsibility for the fake invoices generated between Torres and Urdangarin’s companies, as well as for creating employment contracts for non-existent workers to earn tax deductions and funds. The partners worked to make money under the umbrella of the non-profit Nóos Institute, which according to Tejeiro, was merely a company they held in common to avoid paying taxes on profits.