Europe 1 with AFP 2:54 p.m., September 27, 2022
Colombian star Shakira is to be tried for tax evasion by a court located on the outskirts of Barcelona, in northeastern Spain.
A date has yet to be set, the country's judicial authorities announced on Tuesday, September 27.
At the end of July, the prosecution announced that it would request a sentence of more than eight years in prison against the singer, accused of having subtracted 14.5 million euros from the Spanish tax authorities between 2012 and 2014.
Accused of having evaded 14.5 million euros from the Spanish tax authorities between 2012 and 2014, Colombian star Shakira will be tried for tax evasion, Spanish judicial authorities announced on Tuesday.
The date of this trial which will be held before the provincial court of Barcelona (north-eastern Spain) has yet to be fixed.
A tax residence in the Bahamas Islands
Claiming her innocence, Shakira, 45, had let it be known at the end of July that she refused to seal an agreement with the prosecution, saying she preferred the holding of a trial to this guilty plea procedure.
The prosecution had indicated a few days later that it would request a sentence of more than eight years in prison and a fine of nearly 24 million euros against the interpreter of the hits
Hips don't lie
,
Waka Waka
or
Loca.
According to the prosecution, Shakira had been living in Spain since 2011, when her relationship with FC Barcelona footballer Gerard Pique was made public, but had maintained her tax residence in the Bahamas Islands, considered a tax haven, until 2015. The couple, who have two children, announced their separation in June.
Shakira's defense claims that until 2014, her income came mainly from her international tours or her participation in the show
The Voice
in the United States and that she did not live more than six months a year in Spain, a requirement to establish tax residency in the country.
The star further claimed that she had already paid 17.2 million euros to the Spanish tax authorities and therefore no longer had any debt towards him.
"I don't owe anything" to the taxman
"These accusations are false," Shakira hammered last week in an interview with
ELLE
magazine , assuring that at that time she was on tour most of the year and therefore could not be considered a tax resident in Spain. .
"The tax authorities saw that I was in a relationship with a Spanish citizen and started salivating. It was clear that they wanted this money without caring how they were going to do it," she added.
"I don't owe anything" to the taxman "and I'm sure I have enough evidence to support my case and ensure that justice rules in my favor," the singer said again, for whom going to trial "is a matter of principle".