Five days after King Don Juan Carlos assured that "we are all equal before the law" and "any censurable action should be judged and sanctioned under the law," Judge José Castro lifted the gag order and formally accused the King's son-in-law, Iñaki Urdangarín. The accusation starts off the judicial process against Undangarín.
Urdangarín, also known as the Duke of Palma, is scheduled to make a statement on February 6, 2012, during which he will have to justify before the magistrate the origin and reason for collecting public funds that he received from the Balerian and Valencian governments.
Urdangarín, along with ex-president Jaume Matas (PP) and his partner Diego Torres, is being investigated for falsifying documents, tax fraud and embezzling public funds. He has been asked to testify in order to "clarify the ultimate destination of the public money received from Valencia and Baleares and the tax implications for said funds," according to the judge's decree. In other words, the judge wants Urdangarín to explain how he spent 2.3 million euros that he collected from the Balerian government in 2005 and 2006 for the organization called Illes Baleares Forum, among other million-euro receipts.
The Duke and his partner both have been under suspicion for more than a month for providing bills and receipts that do not justify the exorbitant amounts that they charged through Noós for organizing sports events.
They are also citing the poor progress of retail trade, although when drawing up a report only factored in October data that showed a 7% drop. Yesterday the INE publicized November data that are even worse than last month.
Investment in capital goods is also showing signs of stagnation recently, with declines in production branches throughout October and November and investment in construction project not averring from a downward trend. Materials and cement usage appears to be down as well.
A continual drop in employment throughout the sector is also reflected in the data, because Social Security filings dropped 15.3% year-to-year in November, putting filings at 2% less than where they were last quarter.
