SHAKIRA COULD FACE EIGHT YEARS IN PRISON FOR TAX EVASION
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By Adeniyi Onaara
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 required to pay a fine of over 24 million euros ($24.5 million) after being accused by Barcelona prosecutors of defrauding the Spanish tax authority of 14.5 million euros in income between 2012 and 2014.
Shakira, whose records have sold more than 60 million copies worldwide, rejected a plea agreement on Wednesday, saying in a statement released through her attorneys that she was “completely certain of her innocence” and had chosen to take the issue to trial because she was “certain” of it.
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 claimed prosecutors were “insisting on claiming money earned during my international tours and the show ‘The Voice’” on which she was a judge in the United States, when she was “not yet resident in Spain”.
Shakira was on the singing competition show between 2013 and 2014.
Her lawyers say that until 2014 she earned most of her money from international tours, moved to Spain full time only in 2015 and has met all tax obligations.
She says she has paid 17.2 million euros to Spanish tax authorities and that she has “no debt to the Treasury for many years”.
A Barcelona court in May dismissed an appeal from the singer to drop the charges.
Shakira was named in one of the largest ever leaks of financial documents in October 2021, known as the “Pandora Papers”, among public figures linked to offshore assets.
With her mix of Latin and Arabic rhythms and rock influence, three-time Grammy winner Shakira scored major global hits with songs such as “Hips don’t Lie”, “Whenever, Wherever” and “Waka Waka”, the official song of the 2010 World Cup.
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