Shakira Could Face 8 Years In Prison As Spanish Judge Orders Trial

Shakira has been ordered to face trial in Spain for tax fraud after reportedly failing to pay $14 million (14.5 million euros) in taxes on income she earned between 2012 and 2014, Sky News reports. The singer’s defense is that she didn’t live in Spain at the time, therefore she has done nothing wrong.

  1. Shakira rejected a deal with prosecutors. The 45-year-old singer was offered a deal that would allow her to avoid going on trial, but she refused it. Her attorneys say she’s already paid everything she owes as well as three million euros in interest and therefore there’s no case.
  2. She doesn’t believe there’s any way she can be found guilty. According to her spokesperson, Shakira is “confident that her innocence will be proven by the end of the judicial process.” At the time charges were announced, a statement released by her reps said: “Shakira has always cooperated and abided by the law, demonstrating impeccable conduct as an individual and a taxpayer, and faithfully following the counsel of PriceWaterhouse Coopers, a prestigious and globally recognized tax firm. Unfortunately, the Spanish Tax Office, which loses one out of every two lawsuits with its taxpayers, continues to violate her rights and pursue yet another baseless case.”
  3. If she is convicted, Shakira could spend up to eight years in prison. Not only could Shakira be handed a lengthy prison sentence if she loses her tax fraud trial, but she could also be fined an additional 24 million euros on top of the money prosecutors claim she owes. They say that she spent more than half her time between 2012 and 2014 in Spain and therefore owes revenue to the country. However, Shakira said she was a legal resident of the Bahamas and didn’t meet Spain’s residency requirements, so there’s no case here.
  4. No date for Shakira’s tax fraud trial has been set. Given that the allegations first emerged in 2018, it could be a while before the case is brought to court. No doubt a date will be set and announced in due course.
Jennifer Still is a writer and editor with more than 10 years of experience. The managing editor of Bolde, she has bylines in Vanity Fair, Business Insider, The New York Times, Glamour, Bon Appetit, and many more. You can follow her on Twitter @jenniferlstill
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