Iñaki Urdangarin, the brother-in-law of Spain’s King Felipe VI, walked into a jail in Ávila today to start his five-year, 10-month sentence for embezzlement, influence peddling and tax crimes in the Nóos Institute case.
The husband of Princess Cristina de Borbón, the King’s sister, reported to Brieva penitentiary in Álava having flown in from Geneva the night before.
Spain’s Supreme Court rejected an appeal last Wednesday and judicial authorities afforded him five days within which to choose the prison he will be held in.
Urdangarin was the key figure at the Nóos Institute, a non-profit organisation that enabled him and colleagues to secured contracts from the regional governments of Valencia and the Balearic Islands, using his royal influence and pinching funds.
Urdangarin and his co-conspirator Diego Torres used the Nóos Institute to divert €6.2 million to private bank accounts from these public contracts, secured for organising sports events.
The King’s sister, Cristina de Borbón, was on the board of the Aizoon real estate company, used as a channel for some of these ill-gotten funds. She was fined for having benefited from her husband’s crooked scheme, but was acquitted of tax fraud.
The crook’s jail of choice is located near Madrid, said to be convenient for his family when flying in from Geneva to visit.
See also: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/N%C3%B3os_casehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/N%C3%B3os_case
