Princess Cristina and her husband Iñaki Urdangarin arriving in court in Palma on Monday. | EFE

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The Balearic government is looking to recover the almost 2.9 million euros of public funds related to the current Nóos trial which were, the prosecution in the case claim, embezzled by the Instituto Nóos, in which Princess Cristina’s husband, Iñaki Urdangarin was a founding partner. To this end, the government is working with the Attorney’s Office in the Balearics.

Marc Pons, the government spokesperson, says that 1.28 million euros associated with different corruption cases have been recovered over the past three years and that, in all, the courts are seeking to guarantee the return of over 6.9 million euros.
Of the money that has been recovered, 389,910 euros of it found its way back to the public purse in 2015, and Pons is confident that the 2,877,721 euros in respect of Nóos will be recovered this year. With Nóos, the government demand is for 2,633,180 euros for direct civil liability plus 244,541 euros.

The Attorney’s Office is currently involved with more than a dozen corruption cases, with the aim being to repair the damage done to the regional treasury. The exact amount stemming from the various cases is put at 6,967,372 euros.

The most significant amount that has been returned relates to the so-called “caso Scala” and a web of corrupt activities within the Balearic Consortium for Economic Development during the period of the 2003-2007 Partido Popular term in government. From this, the government has so far got back 793,704 euros, although a Supreme Court ruling has put the total figure owing to the government as 6,294,917 euros.
Apart from this case, 260,077 have been recuperated from different parts of the “caso Voltor”, 95,536 euros the “caso Ibatur”, 92,023 from the “caso Turisme Jove”, 37,710 euros from “caso Bitácora” and 4,766 euros from the Palma Arena case. The 389,910 euros in 2015 referred to Turisme Jove and Voltor.

The Attorney’s Office is also involved in the Son Espases Hospital case. Although its resources are limited, the Attorney’s Office has created a specific area in the fight against fraud. This is staffed by lawyers who specialise in cases of misappropriation of public funds. Pons also notes that the Balearic Islands’ Anti-Corruption Office will be up and running in the next few months, once it is fully approved by parliament at the end of April.