Sharika could face eight years in prison and a 24-million-euros fine after Spanish prosecutors pushed for a sentence over tax fraud allegations against her.
The Colombia-born has been accused of allegedly evading to pay 14.5 million euros in tax between 2012 and 2014.
Spanish prosecutors are seeking an 8-year prison sentence for the star after she rejected an offer to settle the case.
Earlier this week, her representatives released a statement saying she was “fully confident of her innocence” and believed the case violated her rights. A trial date has not yet been set.
Shakira was accused of tax evasion in 2018 after Spanish authorities claimed she lived in the country between 2012 and 2014, but her official residence was listed elsewhere.
The Colombian singer said she did not live mainly in Spain during that period. However, Spanish law determines that anyone who spends more than six months in the country must be considered a resident for tax purposes.
Moreover, an official document from the Spanish prosecutor’s office retrieved by Reuters revealed that the artist had bought a house in Barcelona in 2012, which she used as a family home for her and her ex-partner, Barcelona Football Club soccer player Gerard Piqué.
If Shakira is found guilty, she could be punished with up to eight years in prison and fined 24 million euros.
While the rejected settlement’s terms are unknown, the “Waka Waka” singer stated that she had repaid the money Spanish prosecutors said she owed plus interest.
Shakira declared Spain as her official place of residence for tax purposes in 2015. However, Spanish officials accused her of tax fraud three years later and required the Colombian native to show a tax invoice with all her global income, not just that generated in the country, during the period that she reportedly lived there.
A year later, in 2019, her ex-husband Gerard Piqué was accused of invading taxes between 2008 and 2010, in a separate case. The Spanish national court decided to fine the footballer 2.1 million euros.
