For two years, Shakira lived near Barcelona with her then husband. The Spanish judiciary accuses the Colombian superstar of not having paid income tax and is threatening a court case that could result in a severe prison sentence and millions in fines.
The Spanish prosecutor wants to demand more than eight years in prison for alleged tax evasion for the Colombian pop superstar Shakira. This is from the indictment, which AFP was able to see. The public prosecutor also wants to demand a fine of 24 million euros.
Shakira denies the allegations. The court must now decide whether and when to start a process. The 45-year-old singer is suspected of having defrauded the Spanish tax authorities of 14.5 million euros. The singer had rejected a deal with the public prosecutor’s office on Wednesday and accused her of “violating her rights” and “unfair methods”. However, an agreement remains possible until the first court date.
Spanish prosecutors have accused Shakira of not paying income tax in Spain between 2012 and 2014. During this time, she lived in the country with top Spanish soccer player Gerard Piqué, but had her tax residence in the Bahamas until 2015.
Shakira’s lawyers counter that her income comes mainly from international tours and that she has not lived in Spain for more than six months a year. You have also already paid a good 17 million euros to the Spanish tax authorities. Shakira was also mentioned in the Panama Papers, which revealed in 2016 that numerous heads of state and government and well-known figures in tax havens had hidden money from the tax authorities.
With over 60 million albums sold, Shakira is one of the most successful musicians of the past two decades. In June, she split from Spanish soccer star Gerard Piqué after 12 years of dating. The two have two children together and have been voted among the top 10 “most powerful couples in the world” by the US magazine “Forbes” several times. The couple lived together on the outskirts of Barcelona for a long time.
