Spanish prosecutors want the star to go to jail and receive a hefty fine
Shakira is facing up to eight years in prison for alleged tax fraud after rejecting a plea deal.
The pop superstar, 45, is accused of failing to pay the Spanish government €14.5m on income earned between 2012 and 2014, prosecutors in Barcelona claimed in 2018. The amount is equivalent to £12.18m.
On Wednesday, Shakira, whose full name is Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll, announced she has chosen to go to trial instead of accepting the plea deal. Details about the deal she was offered have not been released.
The Columbian pop singer “trusts her innocence and chooses to leave the issue in the hands of the law,” PR firm Llorente y Cuenca told Billboard.
The firm also claimed the “Hips Don’t Lie” singer has deposited the amount she is said to owe to the Spanish tax office and has no outstanding tax debts.
Shakira, who has sold more than 80 million records worldwide, claims that she did not live in Spain in the years she has been accused of failing to pay taxes. However the prosecutor’s document, seen by Reuters on Friday, asserts that the star bought a house in Barcelona in 2012, which became the family home for herself, her partner and their son Milan, who was born the following year.
If she is found guilty, the prosecutors are asking for the singer to be jailed for eight years and fined over €23m.
A date for the trial is yet to be set.
When approached for 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 latest news in the case comes a month after Shakira and her husband, 35-year-old FC Barcelona defender Gerard Piqué, announced they were separating. The couple have been together since 2011 and have two sons.
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