Urdangarín to appeal prison sentence
Wednesday, February 22, 2017 @ 12:05 PM
KING Felipe's brother-in-law Iñaki Urdangarín has announced he will appeal his six-year, three-month prison sentence for public fund embezzlement and tax fraud – even though this carries the risk of his being jailed for even longer.
Urdangarín's solicitor, Pascual Vives, says he has been 'convinced for years' that his blue-chip client would not have to go to prison, even though prosecutor Pedro Horrach refused to negotiate any deal that would reduce the sentence to less than two years, the minimum for a custodial term to be served for a first offence.
The husband of Felipe VI's youngest sister, the Infanta Cristina, was found guilty of inflating invoices and estimates for organising sports, arts and entertainment events through his so-called 'non-profit' association, the Nóos Institute, and laundering the proceeds through the dormant company he owned jointly with his wife, Aizoon.
Cristina escaped jail for tax evasion by offsetting household expenses against Aizoon, having claimed she simply 'signed what her husband told her to' because she 'trusted him', but still has to pay a €265,000 fine on top of the unpaid duties she has since refunded.
Read more at thinkSPAIN.com