Spain’s former monarch, King Juan Carlos has been accused of attempting to pay the Manos Limpias (Clean Hands) union to drop the case against his younger daughter, Infanta Cristina.
According to Spanish newspaper El Mundo, the former king supposedly offered to pay €2 million. The paper claims to have a recording of the conversation between “the head of the union, Miguel Bernad, his attorney, Virginia Lopez, and an intermediary identified as Íñigo Cotoner, Marquis of Mondéjar.” King Juan Carlos wanted to pay in cash so that it could not be traced back to him. However, the union rejected the offer. Cotoner reportedly told the union that the money was coming from the former monarch. Both Bernad and Lopez are currently under investigation for alleged misappropriation of funds.
King Juan Carlos is currently in Cartagena, Colombia, to represent Spain in the signing of a peace agreement between the Colombian government and the guerilla group Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia—People’s Army, or FARC for short.
Infanta Cristina and her husband, Iñaki were accused of defrauding taxpayers of funds through embezzlement and money laundering in excess of £4.5 million through the non-profit organisation the Noos Institute. Iñaki was the director of the institute while Cristina was a member of the board. The Infanta was accused of using money from the organisation for personal expenses, while Iñaki was arraigned on charges of tax fraud and money laundering. Formal charges against him were brought in December 2011, but charges were not brought against the Infanta until Spanish judge Jose Castro formalised the charges in June 2014. The verdict is expected to be announced on 19 October.
Cristina’s younger brother, King Felipe of Spain, revoked her and Iñaki’s titles of the Duke and Duchess of Palma de Mallorca in June 2015. However, the Infanta and her children remain in the line of succession to the throne. The case was blamed, in part, for the abdication of Juan Carlos in June 2014 in favour of Felipe.
