The Court of Accounts has changed its mind. In the controversial case it is conducting against alleged public spending on the promotion of Catalan independence abroad, the Spanish tribunal that audits public expenditure has today accepted that the government of Catalonia, through its financing body the Catalan Institute of Finance (ICF), is able to pay 5.4 million euros in surety that the court demands from 34 former government ministers and officials over spending on foreign policy between 2011 and 2017. The tribunal, by a margin of two votes in favour to one against, thus corrects the earlier decision of the investigating delegate in the case, who did not allow this bond guarantee, and as a result, required the former officials themselves to produce the funds. The political party ERC contributed 2.1 million of the total sum to cover those accused during the 2016-2017 period (including president Puigdemont), while the remaining 3.2 million was provided through real estate, such as that of former president Artur Mas and ex-ministers Francesc Homs and Andreu Mas-Colell. In a statement issued at noon today, the Court of Accounts said that the full justification of the decision will be delivered in a few days. Thus, the Court of Accounts has reversed its earlier position as a result of the appeals filed by the Catalan government, through the Department of Economy, and the former officials affected.
The Catalan foreign affairs spending case will now proceed to trial, and the 34 defendants will be tried along with those accused in another case of alleged improper public spending on the independence cause, this one related to the costs of the referendum on October 1st, 2017, supposedly 4.2 million euros, which those accused had handed over in surety, prior to the creation of the ICF fund. In the case of the referendum spending, the bond was covered by the Catalan independence movement's Solidarity Fund. In the foreign policy case, the surety will have to be returned to ERC and the former ministers whose personal property had been provisionally forfeited. The acceptance of the public guarantees is a triumph, as defence lawyers claim that the refusal to admit the funding measure indicated that the tribunal considered them guilty. However, if they are finally found guilty, the Catalan government will demand this money from the former officials and with interest, as explained by the Catalan economy minister, Jaume Giró, when he presented the funding system.
The prosecution is key
Last week, at the end of the investigative phase of the case, the anti-independence group Societat Civil Catalana (SCC) filed its private case in the Court of Accounts against eleven former senior Catalan government officials for misusing public funds in the preparation of the 2017 referendum and in the government's foreign policy measures. The new aspect of the Spanish unionist body's claim is that it demands more than 5.3 million euros from the political leaders, but does not include the non-elected government officials and civil servants (a total of 34 people in the foreign affairs case). Therefore, those who the SCC wants to face trial are former Catalan presidents Artur Mar and Carles Puigdemont, as well as ex-vice president Oriol Junqueras, and some former ministers. The group even excludes the former minister of economy, Andreu Mas-Colell, who has had to put up his assets to cover the guarantees. However, the Spanish public prosecutors have still to present their own submission in the case and it is not yet known which politicians and officials they seek to indict.
The trial for the Catalan government's public spending on the 2017 referendum and in pursuit of its foreign policy goals, with a total more than 9 million euros alleged to have been misused, will be held jointly.