Spain's Court of Auditors accepts Catalan government guarantee for former officials' €5.4m fine

Spain's Court of Auditors has accepted financial guarantees amounting to €5.4m from the Catalan government to cover claims against 28 former Catalan officials accused of illicit foreign action between 2011 and 2017.

The decision on Monday is a reversal of the one originally taken by the Court of Auditors in October, which ruled that the Catalan Public Finance Institute, a publicly funded body, could not provide the financial guarantee as it was tied to the institutions affected by the alleged irregular use of public funds.

Those affected appealed the decision and the appeal was accepted by members of the Court of Auditors, although with one vote against.

Former presidents Artur Mas and Carles Puigdemont are among those facing a potential fine for their alleged actions, accused of illegally promoting the Catalan push for independence abroad from 2011 to 2017.

In total, the Court of Auditors is claiming a provisional €5.4m from 34 ex-government figures ahead of a trial to determine the final figure. Six of the accused were not covered by the Catalan Public Finance Institute guarantees, having paid or "correctly" secured the required amount, according to the court.

Who faces the largest fines?

Former Catalan president Artur Mas and former finance minister Andreu Mas-Colell face a €2.8m claim for the public funds allegedly spent from 2011 to 2016 on trips and government offices abroad.

Former Catalan president Carles Puigdemont and former vice president Oriol Junqueras must pay €1.98m for their tenure between 2016 and 2017, when Catalonia held a referendum deemed illegal and subsequently declared independence.

In all, some 34 former officials are under investigation, including some of the politicians who spent more than three years in prison for their role during the referendum bid and who were pardoned by the Spanish government, such as former vice president Oriol Junqueras.

The Court of Auditors has scrutinized the public funds spent by Diplocat, a semipublic consortium aimed at fostering Catalonia's interests abroad, and which encompasses the Catalan government, local and regional authorities, trade unions, universities, and even FC Barcelona.

The former Diplocat secretary-general, Albert Royo, faces a €3.63 million claim from the Court of Auditors, more than any other defendant.

The second-largest fine (€3.16m) goes to Mireia Vidal, who served as the auditor general of the Catalan government from 2011 to 2016 and was tasked with monitoring public spending.

The court also wants former Catalan officials to repay large sums allegedly spent on the network of government offices abroad, with hundreds of thousands of euros linked to the so-called delegations in France, the United States, Italy, and the United Kingdom, among others.

Both Diplocat and most government offices abroad were shut down by Spanish authorities in the fall of 2017, being deemed propaganda tools. They reopened in 2018 when pro-independence parties regained control of the Catalan government.

Other politicians that are being requested to pay large sums of money include former presidency minister Francesc Homs, fined €2.9 million, and former foreign action minister Raül Romeva, who is being held accountable for €2.1 million worth of public money. 

33 Nobel Prize winners against Court of Auditors case

The tribunal considers that the executive spent public money abroad to promote Catalonia’s attempt to split with Spain and deem that around 40 politicians and figures should be held personally liable for this, among them former minister Andreu Mas-Colell, who has received a wave of global support including that of 33 Nobel Prize winners. 

A letter of support published on June 22 in the newspaper 'El País' is signed by 33 Nobel Prize winners including Joseph Stiglitz, Gorge Akerlof, Robert Aumann, Angus Deaton, Esther Duflo, and Eugene Fama.

Around 20 other world-class economists also signed the text, which included calling the open procedure against the retired professor "unfair."

"We are deeply concerned about the news and the situation of professor Andreu Mas-Colell," they say. The prestigious economists remind that the 18,000-page document of accusations does not include his connection with the independence push.

"Those who have been in touch with professor Mas-Colell for several years as colleagues, students, and co-authors know he is a person with full integrity," the letter reads. "The result of this procedure could have a negative impact on the will [of scientists] to return to their countries and contribute to the public service," they say. Mas-Colell had been a professor abroad before returning to Catalonia.

Indeed, he is a world-leading microeconomist and formerly the Louis Berkman Professor of Economics at Harvard. He also founded the Barcelona Graduate School of Economics and served as the head of the Department of Economics and Business at Universitat de Pompeu Fabra during his career, before becoming Catalonia's economy minister.