The 50-year-old is the sister of King Felipe VI, and is sixth in line to the Spanish throne. She faces two counts of tax fraud, carrying a maximum prison sentence of eight years, for allegedly failing to declare taxes on personal expenses paid by a property company she owned with her husband, Iñaki Urdangarin, an Olympic handball medallist turned businessman. Her husband and 16 others are also on trial.
It is alleged that Urdangarin and his former business partner Diego Torres used royal connections to win public contracts, overcharged for services and stashed the money in privately owned companies and offshore tax havens.
Cristina was on the board of the Nóos Institute, a charitable foundation run by her husband, and co-owned another company, Aizoon, with Urdangarin. In a 2014 ruling the investigating judge noted that Urdangarin’s alleged crimes would have been “difficult to commit without at least the knowledge and acquiescence of his wife”.
The case was brought by the private anti-corruption group Manos Limpias (Clean Hands). Both Cristina and Urdangarin have denied any wrongdoing.
The investigation has been a constant source of embarrassment for King Felipe since he took over the throne from his father, Juan Carlos, in 2014.
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