Spain: Prosecutors seek more than eight years in prison against Shakira for tax evasion

The Public Prosecutor’s Office in Barcelona (northeastern Spain) announced, Friday, that he will seek a prison sentence of more than eight years on charges of tax evasion against the Colombian star Shakira, who rejects any agreement and says that she is ready for trial.

In the indictment, to which AFP was able to consult, the prosecution also indicated that it will demand fines estimated at 24 million euros from the singer, who is accused of deducting 14.5 million euros in Spanish taxes between 2012 and 2014.

Justice must now decide the conduct and timing of the trial.

Shakira, who claims her innocence, said Wednesday that she would refuse to conclude an agreement with the prosecution, saying she would prefer a trial to an admission of guilt procedure.

According to his lawyer, the possibility of reaching an agreement remains open until the opening of the session in the Barcelona court, while the official dismissal of the 45-year-old star has not been announced.

The singer, who denounced the “total violation of her rights” and “arbitrary methods” by the prosecution, is “confident in the fact that justice will give reason to her,” she noted on Wednesday in a press release.

The Barcelona Public Prosecutor’s Office accuses the singer of “Hips Don’t Lie”, “Waka Waka” or “Luca” of failing to disclose his income to the Spanish tax authorities during 2012, 2013 and 2014.

According to the prosecution, Shakira has been living in Spain since 2011, when her relationship with Barcelona footballer Gerard Pique was announced, but she maintained her tax residency in the Bahamas, which is considered a tax haven, until 2015. She has two children, whose separation was announced in June.

Pour leur part, les avocats de Shakira estiment que jusqu’en 2014, la plus grande partie de ses revenus provenait de ses tournées internationales et qu’elle ne vivait pas plus de six mois par an en Espagne, condition requise pour établir sa résidence fiscale in the country.

The prosecution “obstinately alleges money collected during my international tours and during (the)” The Voice” in the United States, at a time “I was not yet residing in Spain,” the singer denounced in the press sent Wednesday by her lawyer.

Shakira also says that she has already paid 17.2 million euros to the Spanish tax authorities, and therefore “does not owe to the treasury for many years”.

Shakira’s name is among the names mentioned in the Pandora Papers, a broad investigation published at the end of 2021 by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, accusing several hundred figures of hiding assets in offshore companies, notably for the purpose of ‘tax evasion’.