Spain’s main accounting watchdog ruled that Catalan authorities had misappropriated over 4.9 million euros in public money. Mas argued it was used for the good of the Catalans, such as for the purchase of 7,000 computers which improved the region's education system.
The auditors ordered last year to arrest the ex-president's home in Barcelona and seize the property of his former Vice President Joana Ortega, government ex-spokesman Francesc Homs, and former Education Minister Irene Rigau to repay vote expenses.
READ MORE: Disturbing Phenomenon: Spain Always Had Strange Mix of 'Casual Racism' — Scholar
Over 80 percent of those who voted in the non-binding poll in November 2014 – three years before the controversial referendum – backed the proposed split from Spain. The Constitutional Court called the vote illegal.
READ MORE: Catalan Parliament Passes Resolution to Abolish Monarchy in Spain