Sister of King Philip VI declares the 26th in the corruption trial

USPA NEWS - The trial of 'case Noos' about corruption, which are charged 18 people, including the sister of King Philip VI, the Infanta Cristina de Borbon, resumed Tuesday with the testimony of witnesses. The sister of King will be the last to speak, predictably the 26th.

The hearing, which was suspended last January, was resumed with the acquittal of one defendant, following an agreement with the prosecution exercised by the union Clean Hands, so the number of persons prosecuted was finally at 17, including the Infanta Cristina de Borbon; her husband, the former international handball player Inaki Urdangarin, and former president of the regional Government of the Balearic Islands, Jaume Matas. One of his subordinates, the former CEO of Sports of the regional Government, José Luis Ballester, was the first to testify and incriminate Urdangarin of the crimes committed.

The husband of the Infanta Cristina de Borbon and his partner are accused of being the brains of a business network created to divert public money to personal accounts of both. To do this, according to the prosecution, they pointed Urdangarin status as son of the former King of Spain, Juan Carlos I, for allegedly fraudulent contracts and grants. According to Ballester, "the goal was to hire Urdangarin and all that came of it without discussing the price."

José Luis Ballester explained in court how was the first economic relationship between the regional Government of the Balearic Islands, chaired by Jaume Matas (2003-2007), and Inaki Urdangarin. According to this witness, the then Duke of Palma to Balearic Government proposed to sponsor a cycling team elite with a total budget of 18 million Euros and manage an "office project" to "monitor the impact of sponsorship" worth 300,000 Euros from public sources. "I never doubted that the office had to take the first Urdangarin. Matas received the proposal Urdangarin and it was clear, was the line which is then transferred to the directors," he said.

"We all knew what the guidelines were, we could ask, but what came was marked very clearly, the guidelines gave the Spaniard the president," said the former CEO of Sports. "There was a slope with Urdangarin bill, I told Matas and he said: Pay, my concern now is to win the elections on Sunday," he said. Ballester explained that the minutes when the contracts were justified were false, since the meetings and their content was not more than filler to "dress the saint" was not held. According to this witness, only one Board was held; however, there are tens of minutes of meetings alleged that the prosecutor exhibited at trial.

Ballester explained that he could not move money without "authorization by Jaume Matas. The things he said Matas is not discussed, nor moved a hard if not ordered," he said. The former president of the regional Government has negotiated an agreement with the prosecution, asking him 11 years in prison, to deny responsibility for the facts and giving back money assets belonging to him and his family.