Court of Auditors orders Mas to pay €5.2m for November 9 vote

Former Catalan president, Artur Mas, has two weeks to deposit more than five million euros with Spain’s Court of Auditors to pay for a non-binding referendum that his government organized on November 9, 2014.

The court informed Mas’ lawyers in a meeting in Madrid on Monday that he must pay a total of 4.8 million euros and 400,000 euros in interest to cover the expenses of the vote that was declared illegal by the Constitutional Court.

While the court investigation includes former ministers Irene Rigau, Joana Ortega and Francesc Homs, and six other officials, as Catalan president at the time, Mas is considered ultimately responsible. However, together, the former officials now have 15 days to deposit the money or their personal assets will be frozen.