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Pop singer Shakira has been charged with tax fraud by Spanish prosecutors linked to her income in 2018. This is the second tax eviction case against the artist, with the previous one still under trial. The second charge is about defrauding the state of $7.1 million, or 6.7 million euros.
While prosecutors in Spain opened the case in July 2023, the details were released on Tuesday, September 26. They allege that she failed to declare the money she received as part of advance payments for her El Dorado World Tour, along with other payments.
The prosecutors opened the case in July after gathering evidence for two months. However, no date for a trial has been set. While the singer has been informed about the new charges, her legal team in Miami is preparing for the trial of her first tax evasion case, scheduled for November 2023.
Pop singer Shakira refutes charges brought by the Barcelona Economic Crimes Prosecutor
As per the information revealed in media outlets El Pais and El Periodico, the prosecutors alleged two tax crimes. The case has been opened in court in Esplugues de Llobregat, close to Barcelona. They assert that she diverted her money to companies located in countries that have opacity and low taxation.
However, the artist's representatives said that she maintains she has followed all procedures in accordance with the law. She has a team of legal experts, and she has been acting according to their guidance.
Shakira has a history of legal trouble with charges of tax evasion in the past
In the past, the Grammy winner had been charged with tax evasion for the period between 2012 and 2014. The charges are based on the fact that Shakira was living with soccer player Gerard Pique and their children in Barcelona. This necessitates that she pay taxes to the Spanish government.
However, the singer maintains that she lived in her hometown, the Bahamas, for most of that period. While the 46-year-old singer had her primary residence abroad, she had no intention to hide her income.
Moreover, her PR firm, Llorente y Cuenca, has stated that she has paid whatever she owed, along with $3 million in interest. With these, Shakira and her legal team made an appeal against the first round of charges.
She is set to stand trial beginning November 20, 2023, for tax evasion of $13.9 million. There are six separate cases for tax crimes. In 2021, after a three-year investigation, Judge Marco Juberias of Spain stated that there was enough evidence in the case to point towards criminality.
In July 2022, Shakira was offered to go for an out-of-court settlement, which she rejected. In May 2023, another Spanish court dismissed her appeal for innocence and upheld the previous 2021 ruling.
The Grammy award-winning pop singer, whose full name is Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll, has been moving in and out of Spain since her relationship with her former partner Gerald. Besides Shakira, the tax authorities in Spain have been cracking down on famous faces like Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, who have been suspected of not paying their taxes in full.
While Spain has a provision that allows a judge to waive off sentences under two-year lengths for first-time offenders, if found guilty, the singer faces the possibility of eight-year imprisonment and a large fine.
