Spanish prosecutors said Friday they would seek a prison sentence of more than eight years against global music superstar Shakira after she rejected a plea deal on accusations of tax evasion.
Prosecutors in Barcelona will also ask the 45-year-old “Hips Don’t Lie” singer to pay a fine of almost 24 million euros ($24.5 million). They say she cheated the Spanish tax office out of 14.5 million euros in earnings between 2012 and 2014.
Shakira, who has sold more than 60 million albums, turned down a plea deal on Wednesday. In a statement released by her lawyers, she said she was “absolutely sure” of her innocence and would let the case go to court because she was “confident” that her innocence would be proven.
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The case has not yet been sent to court, and a date for the trial has not been set.
Shakira is one of the biggest names in the music industry around the world. Her lawyers say that an agreement is still possible until the trial starts.
Prosecutors say Shakira moved to Spain in 2011 when her relationship with FC Barcelona defender Gerard Pique became public but maintained official tax residency in the Bahamas until 2015. The couple, who share two children, announced their separation in June.
On Wednesday, the star said that the prosecutor’s office had “violated” all of her rights and used “abusive” methods.
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 in taxes to the Spanish government and has “not owed the Treasury anything for a long time.”
A Barcelona court in May dismissed an appeal from the singer to drop the charges.
In October 2021, the “Pandora Papers,” which was one of the biggest leaks of financial documents ever, named Shakira as one of the public figures with offshore assets.
Shakira, who has won three Grammys, made a lot of big hits around the world with songs like “Hips Don’t Lie,” “Whenever, Wherever,” and “Waka Waka,” which was the official song of the 2010 World Cup.
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