Following Shakira’s rejection of a plea agreement over the allegations of tax evasion, Spanish prosecutors announced Friday that they would seek a prison term of more than eight years against the internationally renowned singer.
The 45-year-old Hips don’t Lie singer will also be subject to a fine of about 24 million euros ($24.5 million) = (around R405 million).
Barcelona prosecutors accuse her of defrauding the Spanish tax office of 14.5 million euros on revenue received between 2012 and 2014.
Shakira, whose albums have sold more than 60 million copies worldwide, rejected a plea deal on Wednesday, saying in a statement released through her attorneys that she was “absolutely certain of her innocence” and had chosen to take the case to trial, “confident” that her innocence would be established.
‘SHAKIRA’ COULD Spent 8 Years Behind Bars for Tax Fraud
A trial date has not yet been established, nor has a formal referral to court been published.
Up to the start of any trial, according to Shakira’s attorneys, one of the biggest names in the world of music.
Shakira, according to the prosecution, relocated to Spain in 2011 after her relationship with FC Barcelona defender Gerard Pique became well-known, yet she continued to file her taxes in the Bahamas until 2015.
The two children that the couple has together announced their separation in June.
The actress criticized the prosecutor’s office on Wednesday for using “abusive methods” and “completely violating her rights.”
She said that while she was “not yet resident in Spain,” prosecutors “insisted on demanding money earned during my foreign tours and the show ‘The Voice,’” on which she served as a judge in the United States.
Between 2013 and 2014, Shakira appeared on the singing competition program.
Her attorneys claim that up until 2014, she mostly made her money from overseas tours, only permanently relocated to Spain in 2015, and has complied with all tax requirements.
PLANETARY PAPERS
She claims that she has paid 17.2 million euros in taxes to the Spanish government and that she hasn’t owed the Treasury anything in “many years.”
In May, a Barcelona judge denied the singer’s request to have the accusations dropped.
The “Pandora Papers,” one of the biggest financial document breaches ever, which included public people connected to offshore assets, included Shakira in its list of names in October 2021.
Shakira, a three-time Grammy winner, achieved great global success with songs like Hips don’t Lie, Whenever, Wherever, and Waka Waka, the official song of the 2010 World Cup, by fusing Latin and Arabic rhythms with rock influences.