MADRID — Iñaki Urdangarin, the brother-in-law of King Felipe VI of Spain, was sentenced to prison on Friday in a business fraud case that represented a major embarrassment to the country’s monarchy, even though the king’s sister, Princess Cristina, was found not guilty.

A regional court on the island of Majorca sentenced Mr. Urdangarin to six years and three months in prison, far less than the 19 and a half years sought by the prosecution, for his business dealings relating to the disbursement of millions of dollars of public funds for sporting events.

In January 2016, Princess Cristina became the first member of Spain’s royal family to stand trial in modern history, after the authorities began looking into Mr. Urdangarin’s business practices in 2011. The police raided the offices of his nonprofit foundation, the Nóos Institute, as part of an investigation initially prompted by huge cost overruns for the construction of a cycling track on Majorca.

Mr. Urdangarin — who was found guilty on several counts, including fraud, document falsification, tax evasion and influence peddling — was among 18 defendants on trial. He and his business partners were accused of embezzling about 6 million euros, or $6.4 million at current exchange rates, that had been distributed by regional officials for organizing sports events.</s>Spain's Princess Cristina Is Cleared In Fraud Trial; Her Husband Gets Prison Time

Princess Cristina, the sister of Spain's King Felipe VI, has been acquitted in an alleged embezzlement scheme — but her husband was found guilty Friday, as a court handed down a prison sentence of more than six years to Iñaki Urdangarín for an assortment of crimes.

"They were accused of embezzling millions of dollars in public donations to a sports charity they ran," Lauren Frayer reports from Madrid for NPR's Newscast unit. "Both are former Olympians. Princess Cristina was the first royal to face criminal charges in Spain's modern history. Urdangarín's lawyers are expected to appeal."

Lauren adds, "Cristina and her husband are believed to be at their luxury villa in Switzerland, and were not in the courtroom for sentencing. Both denied wrongdoing."

Infanta Cristina de Borbón, 51, had faced charges of tax fraud; although she was acquitted, a provincial court also ordered her to pay a fine of 265,000 euros (around $280,000).

Urdangarín was a main defendant in the case, which also involved more than a dozen other people. The charges leveled against him included money-laundering and forgery.

"Cristina's defense appears to be two-pronged: She denies knowledge of her husband's business dealings and repeated the phrase "I don't know" 182 times in response to a judge's questions at a February 2014 pretrial hearing, according to a transcript. "Her lawyers also want her case dismissed because charges were brought by a private anti-corruption group, not Spanish authorities. (A quirk of Spanish law allows this.) In fact, Spain's tax authorities have sided with the princess, arguing for an administrative fine rather than criminal charges."</s>Cristina ordered to pay fines and Inaki Urdangarin given six-year sentence for charges including fraud and tax evasion.

The husband of Spain's Princess Cristina has been sentenced to more than six years in prison on charges including fraud and tax evasion while the royal wife has been acquitted.

A panel of judges ruled on Friday that Cristina, the sister of King Felipe VI, was not guilty but she would be required to pay more than $280,000 in fines because the court considered that she indirectly benefited from her husband Inaki Urdangarin's fraud.

The couple were not called to court for the ruling. Both have lived in Switzerland with their four children since 2013, and have always denied any wrongdoing.

Miquel Roca, a lawyer with Cristina's defence team, said that the princess was "satisfied for the acknowledgement of her innocence" but that she was still convinced that her husband was not guilty.

"If we believed in the judicial system when the princess was made to sit in the dock, I think citizens can trust in it when she's absolved," Roca said in Barcelona.

A spokesperson for the Royal House told Spanish media that the royal family respected the court's decision.

There were no immediate comment from Felipe and Queen Letizia, who received news of the ruling during a visit to a museum in Madrid with the Hungarian president.

The case can be appealed in the Supreme Court, but it was not clear whether Urdangarin would choose to do so.

Urdangarin, a former Olympic handball player, had used his royal connections to win public contracts to put on events through his non-profit organisation, the Noos Foundation, then overcharged for the events and hidden millions of dollars in proceeds abroad, according to prosecutors.

Some of the foundation's money was transferred to a private company and used to pay for family holidays, home furnishings and theatre tickets, prosecutors said.

The trial, and the long investigation that preceded it, had been closely followed in a country inured to high-level political and banking corruption cases, and where inequality has grown in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis.

The inquiry heightened the impression among Spaniards that the royal family was out of touch with ordinary people just as Spain was suffering its worst recession of modern times.

Public support for the family eroded further when it emerged that King Juan Carlos had gone on an elephant hunting expedition in Africa at the height of the financial crisis. He abdicated in 2014 in favour of his son.

When he ascended the throne, Felipe removed his older sisters, Elena and Cristina, from royal duties as part of efforts to modernise the monarchy.

The following year he stripped Cristina of her title of Duchess of Palma.</s>Spain’s Princess Cristina has been acquitted of tax fraud after becoming the first member of the country’s royal family to have been tried for a criminal offence.

The three judges delivered their verdict in courtroom in Palma de Mallorca shortly after midday on Friday, finding the 51-year-old not-guilty on two counts of being an accomplice to tax fraud.

Princess Cristina’s husband, Iñaki Urdangarin, was convicted of several counts of corruption and tax fraud and was sentenced to a total of six years and three months in prison.

The princess’s chief legal adviser, Miquel Roca, told reporters that the King of Spain’s sister was “satisfied that her innocence had been recognised [but] upset as she remains convinced of her husband’s innocence”.

Princess Cristina and Mr Urdangarin have been living in Switzerland with their four children since 2013, the year in which a judge investigating the company half-owned by the princess’s husband also accused her of helping to divert public money into their private accounts.</s>A Spanish court has acquitted Princess Cristina, the 51-year-old sister of Spain’s ruling monarch King Felipe VI, of criminal conduct after a year-long tax fraud trial.

However her husband, Iñaki Urdangarin, 49, received a prison sentence of six years and three months by the court in Majorca.

Princess Cristina, who is sixth in line to the throne, is the first member of Spain’s royal family to go on trial since the monarchy’s restoration in 1975.

Urdangarin was accused of using his royal connections to generate business income used for private spending. The case included 16 other defendants, more than 300 witnesses and a 70,000-page indictment.

The case began in 2010 and became highly charged because many believed it symbolized perceived corruption among Spain’s elites – including the royal family.

King Felipe stripped his sister and her husband Inaki Urdangarin of their titles, the Duke and Duchess of Palma de Mallorca, in 2015

Although she was absolved of criminal charges, Princess Cristina will still have to pay a fine of $282,000, which reflects her civil liability.

The court also ordered her husband to pay $532,675 in fines and financial penalties.

Princess Cristina was facing a possible prison sentence of eight years if she had been found guilty.

She took the stand in her defense in March 2016, saying she “didn’t concern herself” with her husband’s business affairs.

The case was heard in Palma de Mallorca, the regional capital of Spain’s Balearic Islands, because many of Urdangarin’s business deals related to the area.

Neither Princess Cristina nor her husband were in court for the February 17 verdict, which was originally expected to be handed down last year.

Although they live in Lisbon, Portugal, the couple and their four children were reported to be staying in Geneva, Switzerland until the case is resolved.

None of the family members were in court for the verdict, which is subject to appeal. Both Princess Cristina and Iñaki Urdangarin have denied any wrongdoing.</s>Spain’s Princess Cristina, the sister of King Felipe VI, has been cleared of helping her husband evade taxes after a year-long trial that has further tarnished the image of the royal family and done little to allay public concern over the apparent ubiquity of corruption at the highest levels of Spanish society.

Her husband, Iñaki Urdangarin, was sentenced to six years and three months in prison and fined more than €500,000 after being found guilty of charges including embezzlement, fraud, and tax evasion.

Cristina, 51, was the first royal to face criminal charges since the restoration of the Spanish monarchy in 1975 and could have gone to prison for eight years if she had been found guilty. Despite the acquittal, she was ordered to pay a €265,000 fine for “civil responsibility”.

The princess and her husband were among 18 co-defendants facing a total of 89 charges ranging from fraud and money laundering to trafficking of influences.

Urdangarin, a 49-year-old businessman and former Olympic handball player, was accused of taking advantage of his royal connections to win inflated public contracts to stage sporting and other events and then siphoning off the proceeds to fund a lavish lifestyle.



The case was heard in Palma de Mallorca, the regional capital of Spain’s Balearic Islands, because many of Urdangarin’s business deals under investigation related to the islands.

Neither Cristina nor her husband were in court for Friday’s verdict. Although they live in Lisbon, the couple and their four children were reported to be staying in Geneva.

Urdangarin and his former business partner Diego Torres were accused of embezzling about €6m (£4.6m) in public money that was paid to their non-profit organisation, the Nóos Institute, to organise events. Torres was given an eight-year prison term.

One of the companies that allegedly benefited from Nóos was Aizoon, a real estate firm that Urdangarin owned with his wife. Aizoon was labelled a “front company” in court documents.



The princess was accused of making personal use of Aizoon funds to pay for clothes and dance lessons for the couple’s children, as well as for work on their Barcelona mansion, lowering the firm’s taxable income.

The prosecution claimed Cristina could not have been unaware of her husband’s activities. Questioned in court in February 2014 before she or her husband had been charged, she said she took her husband at his word. During six hours of questioning, she replied “I don’t know” 188 times and “I don’t remember” on 55 occasions.

The princess ended up in court after the far-right pressure group Manos Limpias (Clean Hands) brought a tax evasion case against her using legal provision that allows private groups to start criminal proceedings.

However, the group’s own credibility suffered after its leader was detained for alleged extortion and other charges, and was accused of asking the princess’s lawyers for money in exchange for dropping its accusations against her.

King Felipe has endeavoured to improve his family’s public image since ascending to the throne after the abdication of his father, Juan Carlos, in 2014.

Details of the so-called Nóos case emerged in 2011, and another major turning point in the Spanish public’s view of their royal family occurred a year later when, at the height of the country’s economic crisis, Juan Carlos was pictured on an expensive hunting trip to Botswana.

Cristina and Urdangarin married in 1997 in a lavish ceremony in Barcelona and were bestowed the titles of Duke and Duchess of Palma by Juan Carlos.

The couple’s multimillion-euro mansion has been impounded by the courts and Cristina was notably absent from ceremonies marking Felipe’s ascension to the throne in June 2014.

Felipe removed Cristina and her sister Elena from royal duties when he became king and stripped Cristina of her title of Duchess of Palma a year later as she prepared to face trial.</s>MADRID (AP) - A Spanish court has found Princess Cristina not guilty in a tax fraud case, while her husband was convicted and sentenced to more than six years in prison.

The judge ruled that Cristina will be required to pay nearly 265,000 euros (more than $280,000) in fines. Her husband, Inaki Urdangarin, was found guilty of evading taxes, fraud and various other charges. He was sentenced to six years and three months in jail.

The trial centered on accusations that Urdangarin used his former title, Duke of Palma, to embezzle about 6 million euros ($6.6 million) in public funds for the nonprofit Noos Institute he ran with a partner. Among the companies they used was Aizoon, a real estate consulting company jointly owned by Cristina and Urdangarin.

FILE - In this Feb. 8, 2014 file photo, Spain's Princess Cristina arrives at the courthouse in Palma de Mallorca, Spain. A Spanish court on Friday Feb. 17, 2017, found Princess Cristina not guilty in a tax fraud case in which her husband Inaki Urdangarin , was sentenced Friday to 6 years and 3 months in prison for evading taxes, fraud and various other charges. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez, File)

FILE - In this Feb. 25, 2012 file photo, Inaki Urdangarin, the Duke of Palma and the husband of Spain's Princess Cristina arrives at the courthouse during a corruption trial in Palma de Mallorca, Spain. A Spanish court on Friday Feb. 17, 2017, found Princess Cristina not guilty in a tax fraud case in which her husband Inaki Urdangarin , was sentenced Friday to 6 years and 3 months in prison for evading taxes, fraud and various other charges. (AP Photo/Manu Mielniezuk)

FILE - In this Feb. 9, 2016 file photo, Spain's Princess Cristina and her husband Inaki Urdangarin, leave a courtroom after attending a corruption trial, in Palma de Mallorca, Spain. A Spanish court on Friday Feb. 17, 2017, found Princess Cristina not guilty in a tax fraud case in which her husband, the brother-in-law of King Felipe VI, was sentenced Friday to 6 years and 3 months in prison for evading taxes, fraud and various other charges. (AP Photo/Joan Llado, File)

FILE - In this Monday, Jan. 11, 2016, file photo, Spain's Princess Cristina arrives at court for a corruption trial, in Palma de Mallorca, Spain. A Spanish court on Friday Feb. 17, 2017, found Princess Cristina not guilty in a tax fraud case in which her husband, the brother-in-law of King Felipe VI, was sentenced Friday to 6 years and 3 months in prison for evading taxes, fraud and various other charges. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti, File)

FILE - In this Feb. 9, 2016 file photo, Spain's Princess Cristina and her husband Inaki Urdangarin, leave a courtroom after attending a corruption trial, in Palma de Mallorca, Spain. A Spanish court on Friday Feb. 17, 2017, found Princess Cristina not guilty in a tax fraud case in which her husband, the brother-in-law of King Felipe VI, was sentenced Friday to 6 years and 3 months in prison for evading taxes, fraud and various other charges. (AP Photo/Joan Llado, File)

FILE - In this Feb. 25, 2012 file photo, Inaki Urdangarin, the Duke of Palma and the husband of Spain's Princess Cristina arrives at the courthouse during a corruption trial in Palma de Mallorca, Spain. A Spanish court on Friday Feb. 17, 2017, found Princess Cristina not guilty in a tax fraud case in which her husband Inaki Urdangarin , was sentenced Friday to 6 years and 3 months in prison for evading taxes, fraud and various other charges.(AP Photo/Manu Mielniezuk, File)</s>A Spanish court on Friday acquitted King Felipe VI's sister in her trial over charges that she helped her husband evade taxes.

But Princess Cristina's husband Inaki Urdangarin was jailed for six years and three months for siphoning off millions of euros between 2004 and 2006 from a foundation he headed in the island of Majorca.

The 51-year-old princess was the first Spanish royal to face criminal charges since the monarchy's 1975 restoration.

The ruling said: "We must acquit and we are acquitting Cristina Federica... of tax fraud, of which she was accused."

However, Princess Cristina was ordered to pay a fine of 265,000 euros ($282,000) because she had benefited from her husband's wrongdoing. Her husband was fined 512,000 euros.

The case, which was heard by a court in Palma, sullied the reputation of the royal household and became a symbol of perceived corruption among Spain's elites.

The scandal broke in 2011, just as the country was going through a deep economic crisis.

Princess Cristina could have faced eight years in prison if she had been convicted of fraud over her 49-year-old husband's work with the non-profit Noos Institute sports foundation.

Urdangarin, a former Olympic handball medallist was charged with the more serious crimes of embezzlement, influence peddling, forgery and money laundering.

The couple, who have been married since 1997 and have four children together, went on trial last year along with 15 others, including former government minister Jaume Matas.

After her 1997 fairytale marriage to Urdangarin, Princess Cristina became a treasure of the celebrity press and won praise for having a salaried job.

But eventually, people began to raise eyebrows at the couple's lavish lifestyle.

In 2004 they purchased a 1,200-square-metre (13,000-square-foot) house for six million euros ($6.3 million) in Barcelona, with centre-right daily El Mundo asking: "Where is the money coming from?"</s>Spain's Princess Cristina was found not guilty in a tax fraud case Friday, while her husband was convicted and sentenced to more than six years in prison.

A panel of judges ruled that Cristina, the sister of King Felipe VI, will be required to pay nearly 265,000 euros (more than £227,00) in fines because the court considers that she indirectly benefited from the fraud.

Her husband, Inaki Urdangarin, was found guilty of evading taxes, fraud and various other charges. He was sentenced to six years and three months in prison in a decision that can be appealed to the Supreme Court.

The trial centered on accusations that Urdangarin used his former title, Duke of Palma, to embezzle about 6 million euros (£5 million) in public funds for the nonprofit Noos Institute.

The institute organized conferences and sports-related events and was run with a partner, Diego Torres, who was sentenced to eight years and a half in jail in Friday's ruling by a provincial court in Palma de Mallorca, in the Balearic Islands.

Among the companies they used was Aizoon, a real estate consulting company jointly owned by Cristina and Urdangarin.

A lawyer with Cristina's defense team, Miquel Roca, said that the princess was 'satisfied for the acknowledgement of her innocence' but that she was still convinced that her husband wasn't guilty.

'If we believed in the judicial system when the princess was made to sit in the dock, I think citizens can trust in it when she's absolved,' Roca told reporters in Barcelona.

A spokesman for the Royal House told Spanish media that the royal family respected the court's decision.

There were no immediate comment from Felipe and Queen Letizia, who received news of the ruling during a visit to a museum in Madrid with the Hungarian president.</s>In a wide-ranging tax fraud case that captivated Spain, Princess Cristina was found not guilty Friday of being an accessory to fraud but her husband was convicted and sentenced to more than six years in prison.

A panel of judges ruled that Cristina, the 51-year-old sister of King Felipe VI, will be required to pay over $280,000 in fines because the court considers that she indirectly benefited from the fraud.

Her husband, Inaki Urdangarin, was found guilty of evading taxes, fraud and various other charges. He was sentenced to six years and three months in prison and a fine of $545,000.

Urdangarin, a 49-year-old former handball Olympic medalist, can still appeal the decision to the Supreme Court, but the public prosecutor announced Friday that it would request a hearing to decide whether he needs to await developments in jail. He is still free so far.

The trial centered on accusations that Urdangarin used his former title, the Duke of Palma, to embezzle about $6.6 million in public funds for the nonprofit Noos Institute.

The provincial court in Palma de Mallorca, in the Balearic Islands, found six other people in the trial guilty, including Urdangarin's business partner and a former regional president of the Balearic Islands. Ten people in all, including Cristina, were absolved by the court.

In a country mired with corruption scandals in politics and business, Spaniards paid close attention to the "Noos case" since the first signs of Urdangarin's involvement emerged six years ago. As the scandal unfolded, Former King Juan Carlos' decision to abdicate the throne in 2014 was seen as an effort to allow his son Felipe to restore the monarchy's credibility.

When his sister Cristina was indicted, King Felipe cancelled her titles of Duchess of Palma, granted by their father in 1997 on the occasion of her wedding. She and Urdangarin are no longer invited to any official events by the Royal House.

Felipe and Queen Letizia made no immediate comment Friday on the court's rulings during a visit to a museum in Madrid with the Hungarian president. A spokesman for the Royal House told Spanish media they respected the courts' independence.

Inigo Mendez de Vigo, the minister who speaks for Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy's conservative government, said Friday that it "shows that nobody is above the law and that the rule of law works."

The Noos Institute organized conferences and sports-related events. Among the companies used by the institute to hide funds was Aizoon, a real estate consulting company jointly owned by Cristina and Urdangarin that paid for family holidays and wine bills, according to court documents.

Urdangarin ran Noos Institute with a partner, Diego Torres, who was sentenced to 8 1/2 years in jail in Friday's ruling. Torres' wife and Cristina, for whom an anticorruption group was asking for eight years of jail each, were absolved by the court.

A lawyer with Cristina's defense team, Miquel Roca, said the princess was "satisfied for the acknowledgement of her innocence" but she was still convinced that her husband wasn’t guilty.

"If we believed in the judicial system when the princess was made to sit in the dock, I think citizens can trust in it when she's absolved," Roca told reporters in Barcelona.

The couple lived in a mansion in Barcelona for years with their four children, but since the investigation started they moved the family to Switzerland. On Friday, reporters waited outside their house in Geneva, hoping in vain to get a glimpse of the couple.

Spaniards had been waiting for the judges' verdict since the trial ended in mid-2016. On Friday, reactions in the street were mixed, with some people still expressing doubts over whether the law in Spain is the same for everyone.

"I think the prosecutor wasn't trying to prosecute the crime but rather to protect the alleged criminal," said Miquel Puig, a 62-year-old economist in Barcelona.

Maite Mila, a 52-year-old lawyer, said she believed the princess "benefited from what her husband did."

"We have to respect the decision of the justice but I think they did it wrong," Mila said.

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Princess Cristina of Spain is acquitted of fraud but her husband is convicted.