Shakira reaches deal to avoid $15 million fraud trial
- By Agencies -
- Nov 20, 2023
Colombian singer Shakira on Monday reached a settlement with prosecution to avoid a trial over charges she failed to pay 14.5 million euros ($15.74 million) in Spanish income tax between 2012 and 2014.
As part of the deal that puts an end to the trial, prosecution changed jail time for the singer with fines, the judge said during the trial’s first hearing.
The case centres on where the singer, whose hit singles include “Whenever, Wherever” and the 2010 World Cup song “Waka Waka”, lived between 2012 and 2014.
Prosecutors allege Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll — dubbed the Queen of Latin Pop — spent more than half of that period in Spain and should have paid taxes in the country.
They say she moved to Spain after her relationship with FC Barcelona defender Gerard Pique became public in 2011, but maintained official tax residency in the Bahamas until 2015.
In its indictment, the prosecution claims that Shakira “used a set of companies” based in tax havens “with the intention of not paying” tax in Spain.
Shakira’s lawyers say that until 2014, she was leading a “nomadic life” and earned most of her money from international tours and that she only moved permanently to Barcelona just before the birth of her second son in January 2015.