Europe

Europe

Son-in-law of Spanish king removed from official engagements over corruption accusation

12 December 2011 19:23 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. The Spanish Royal Palace on Monday distanced itself from the King’s son-in-law and Duke of Palma Inaki Urdangarin over his involvement in a corruption scandal, APA reports quoting Xinhua.

The Chief of the Spanish Royal Household, Rafael Spottorno confirmed the decision to stop Urdangarin from taking part in official activities.

A former Spanish international handball player, Urdangarin, 43, is married to King Juan Carlos’youngest daughter Princess Cristina.

He is suspected of diverting close to 6 million euros (7.9 million U.S. dollars) of public funds through the Noos Institute, of which he is a co-founder, for his own profit.

He and his partners allegedly persuaded various regional administrations to sign agreements with his company, a supposedly non-profit organization, for works which were either enormously over-budget, or never actually carried out.

The Spanish anti-corruption bureau confirmed earlier this month that Urdangarin had sent the money out of Spain.