Prosecution asks for pre-trial prison for corruption ringleaders

Pre-trial prison for the ringleaders of the ‘Palau’ corruption case is what the public prosecutor demanded on Monday, while the Spanish Supreme Court decides on the parties’ appeals.  In a hearing in a Barcelona courtroom, the prosecution claimed there is a “very high risk” that the main figures in the case, Fèlix Millet and Jordi Montull, could flee while awaiting the court’s final judgement. Meanwhile, the prosecution asked for a foreign travel ban on Montull’s daughter, Gemma, and Daniel Osàcar, who were also both sentenced in the same case, but drew short of demanding they be detained. 

What is the ‘Palau’ case?

On January 15, the Barcelona court sentenced Fèlix Millet and Jordi Montull to nine years and eight months and to seven and a half years in prison, respectively. Both men were in charge of the Palau de la Música concert hall for decades, and they confessed to diverting funds from the cultural venue into their own bank accounts. The court found Millet and Montull guilty of stealing 23 million euros from the institution. Montull’s daughter, Gemma, was also charged and sentenced to four and a half years in prison.

The case also involved the CDC political party, with former treasurer Daniel Osàcar sentenced to four years and five months in jail. The party, the predecessor of the pro-independence PDeCAT party, was accused of rigging public tenders in exchange for commission to illegally finance itself, with the money being transferred through false concert hall donations.