MADRID — Prosecutors in Spain said Friday they would ask a court to sentence Colombian pop star Shakira to eight years and two months in prison, if she is convicted in her expected trial for alleged tax fraud.
Shakira, whose full name is Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll, is charged with failing to pay the Spanish government 14.5 million euros ($15 million) in taxes between 2012 and 2014. The prosecutors said they would also seek a fine of 24 million euros ($24 million).
The indictment details six charges against Shakira. The singer this week rejected a settlement deal offered by prosecutors, opting to go to trial instead. A trial date has yet to be set.
Her publicists in London said in a statement Friday that Shakira "has always cooperated and abided by the law, demonstrating impeccable conduct as an individual and a taxpayer." The publicists accused the Spanish Tax Agency of violating her rights.
Shakira's Spanish public relations team said earlier this week that the artist has deposited the amount she is said to owe, including 3 million euros in interest.
Prosecutors in Barcelona have alleged the Grammy winner spent more than half of each year between 2012 and 2014 in Spain and should have paid taxes in the country.
Shakira recently ended an 11-year-long relationship with FC Barcelona star Gerard Piqué, with whom she has two children. The family used to live in Barcelona.
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Shakira is facing more than eight years in Spanish prison for tax fraud
Prosecutors in the case are reportedly seeking a fine of €24 million in addition to the sentence
Despite her timeless assertion regarding the honesty of her hips, prosecutors in Spain are moving forward with charges stating Shakira has been dishonest about her taxes. After declining a settlement deal in a case alleging the Colombian singer evaded roughly €14.5 million (about $14.8 million in U.S. currency) in government taxes, Shakira will head to court, where prosecutors are seeking a sentence of eight years and two months jail time, as well as a €24 million fine, per the Associated Press. The official indictment details six separate charges against the Grammy winner.
Although Shakira was first hit with the charges in 2018, the artist only elected to decline the plea deal this week (she previously asserted her innocence during her testimony for a rejected June 2019 appeal.) The artist’s public relations firm, Llorente y Cuenca, said in a statement on Wednesday that Shakira chose to take the case to trial because she sees it as “a total violation of her rights” and “trusts her innocence and chooses to leave the issue in the hands of the law.” “The singer is fully confident of her innocence and therefore does not accept a settlement,” the statement continued.
Much of the case hinges on where Shakira, 45, was living between the years of 2012 and 2014. Prosecutors claim that Shakira lived mostly in Spain during those years even though her primary residence was listed as The Bahamas—in 2021, Spanish judge Marco Juberías wrote that his three-year probe into Shakira’s tax history reflected “sufficient evidence of criminality” warranting a trial.
Conversely, the artist’s publicists insist Shakira has paid the money she allegedly owes to the Spanish Tax Agency in addition to €3 million in interest, and has no pending debts. “Shakira’s conduct on tax matters has always been impeccable in all the countries where she has had to pay taxes, and she has trusted and faithfully followed the recommendations of the best specialists and expert advisors,” they shared in a statement back in May.
A trial date has yet to be set for the case, but the strength of Shakira’s publicists’ statement suggests she’s ready whenever, wherever to defend her name.
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Spanish prosecutor asks for eight-year jail term for Shakira
MADRID, July 29 (Reuters) - A Spanish prosecutor is seeking a prison term of eight years for Colombian superstar Shakira over a 14.5 million-euro tax fraud case, a prosecutor's office document showed on Friday.
The singer, who has sold more than 80 million records worldwide with hits such as "Hips Don't Lie", earlier this week rejected a settlement offer from the prosecutor's office to close the case.
She is accused of failing to pay taxes between 2012 and 2014, a period in which Shakira says she did not live in Spain.
The prosecutor's document, seen by Reuters, asserts that Shakira was ordinarily resident in Spain between 2012 and 2014 and in May 2012 bought a house in Barcelona which became a family home for herself, her partner and their son born in Spain in 2013.
It asked for an eight-year prison sentence and a fine of more than 23 million euros ($23.5 million) should she be found guilty. No date for a trial has been set yet.
Asked to comment, Shakira's representatives referred to a previous statement sent out on Wednesday saying she "is fully confident of her innocence" and that she considers the case "a total violation of her rights".
The terms of the earlier settlement offer have not been disclosed.
The 45-year-old singer - dubbed the Queen of Latin Pop - said she initially paid the 17.2 million euros that the Spanish tax office said she owed and claims she has no outstanding debt with the tax authorities.
The latest development in the tax case comes a month after Shakira and her husband, FC Barcelona defender Gerard Pique, announced they were separating. Shakira, 45, and Pique, 35, have been together since 2011 and have two sons. read more