Pop superstar Shakira has been sentenced to years in prison for tax evasion by Spanish prosecutors.

In addition to imprisonment for eight years and two months, the prosecutor in the province of Barcelona also demanded a fine of 23.8 million euros for the 45-year-old. This was reported by the state television station RTVE and other Spanish media on Friday. This claim was served on the competent court in Esplugues de Llobregat near Barcelona, ??it said. A judicial spokesman confirmed this information on request.

Shakira denies the allegations

Shakira only announced on Wednesday that she had rejected an out-of-court settlement with the tax authorities in her adopted country. The musician, who became famous with hits like “Waka Waka” and “Hips Don’t Lie”, will have to answer in court in the next few months. She is accused of evading a total of around 14.5 million euros between 2012 and 2014.

The artist from Colombia, meanwhile, describes herself as innocent. She dismissed the allegations as a “total violation” of her rights. She is the victim of a “bitter persecution”.

“The prosecution is determined to recover the money I made from my international tours and from (the TV show) ‘The Voice’ before I lived in Spain,” she wrote in the communiqué. For profit reasons, the authorities “recourse to unfair means to exert pressure”.

A judge had ordered the opening of criminal proceedings last year at the request of the competent public prosecutor’s office. In late May, Shakira’s lawyers failed in court with a motion to overturn the judge’s verdict. She is confident that the judiciary will ultimately prove her right, said Shakira.

The core question is where the Colombian was liable to pay taxes in 2012, 2013 and 2014. The judiciary says: in Spain, because she stayed there for more than half a year in each of the three years. The singer denies that.

She probably won’t be behind bars

Shakira affirms that she was residing in the Bahamas at the time. She only repeatedly visited her partner at the time, football star Gerard Piqué from FC Barcelona, ??with whom she now has two children and from whom she recently separated. Only from 2015 did she live permanently in Barcelona. In addition, she has since paid all taxes plus interest. In 2018, Shakira transferred a total of 17.2 million euros to the Treasury.

What are the chances for “Shaki”, as she is called by her millions of fans? According to RTVE, she is unlikely to be behind bars because the required total prison sentence consists of several sentences of less than two years. And prison sentences of up to two years are almost always suspended in Spain for those who have no previous convictions. But the judge could also decide on harsher penalties.

For Shakira, 2022 is becoming more and more of a darn year. It was only at the beginning of June that she and Piqué announced the end of their relationship after twelve years. They were considered a “dream couple”. Shakira now wants to leave Spain soon with his sons Milan (9) and Sasha (7) and is negotiating with Piqué, well-informed Spanish media reported.