Court of auditors demand €4.1 million from Puigdemont and officials over referendum

Spain’s court of auditors has put a figure of €4,146,000 on the spending on the 2017 Catalan independence referendum, despite organizers and officials repeatedly denying any public money was spent on the vote. 

The court has ordered former president Carles Puigdemont and 29 other officials, including the jailed ex vice president Oriol Junqueras, to repay the sum they report was spent on the referendum deemed illegal. Junqueras, along with eight other independence leaders, is currently imprisoned for his role in the push to create a new Catalan Republic. 

Spain’s Supreme Court convicted four former ministers of misuse of funds – as well as sedition, also affecting another five leaders – in October.

The political heads responsible did not attend the hearing in person, but rather sent representatives. 

The supervisory body will now set a time limit for those investigated to deposit the allegedly embezzled amount as bail. If they are not paid, goods will then be seized.

Further hearings are expected to take place in the future, and a final sentence will be issued by the court of auditors. However, this can be appealed and could ultimately be decided by the Supreme Court. 

The procedure began one year ago after a lawsuit by the prosecutor's office and the civil society entities Societat Civil Catalana and Catalans per la Constitució.

In another case, the one referring to the unofficial vote on independence held in 2014, the court of auditors ruled that then-Catalan president, Artur Mas, and nine others had to pay 4.98 million euros; otherwise their goods would be seized. This amount was paid through the donations of citizens, and so no goods were seized.