Courts Shakira paid 300,000 euros more to the Treasury after a disagreement in a settlement
Shakira
will sit on a bench accused of several crimes of tax fraud and will face a prison sentence.
The decision of the
Court of Barcelona
to reject the appeal of the singer against the resolution of the Court of Instruction number 2 of
Esplugues de Llobregat
to prosecute her for allegedly defrauding the Treasury more than 14 million euros in the years 2012, 2013 and 2014 , leaves her one step away from judgment.
Everything indicates that the
Prosecutor
's Office , which filed the complaint against the singer who initiated the judicial investigation, will request a prison sentence and a fine, although the years of imprisonment that she requests must still be specified.
At the moment, the Barcelona Court endorsed the decision of the court that found indications that the
singer
and her tax advisor could commit these crimes when considering that between 2012 and 2014 Shakira spent more than 183 days residing in
Spain
and that for that reason she had to pay taxes before the Treasury as established by law.
The Prosecutor's Office believes that the singer allegedly breached her tax obligations on personal income tax and her wealth tax by maintaining a corporate network to pay less taxes.
That's why he also accuses her adviser.
In this sense, the Treasury and the Prosecutor's Office believe that in 2012 the singer had her residence in Spain since she had begun her relationship with the Barça defender
Gerard Piqué
despite the fact that she made professional trips around the world, although the singer's lawyers presented a permanent
residence certificate in the
Bahamas
until 2015. To argue this presence of the Colombian singer in our country, her social networks, bills or use of credit cards were tracked.
The Prosecutor's Office considers that Shakira allegedly evaded the payment of taxes to the Treasury by pretending that she did not reside in this country and hiding her income through a corporate network based in tax havens, such as
the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, Malta, Panama
and
Luxembourg
. with which he channeled the benefits of his professional activity.
For this reason, he accuses the singer and her tax advisor of concocting a "plan" to avoid paying either personal income tax or wealth tax to the Tax Agency, hiding her income in these companies in tax havens.
Thus, they would have allegedly committed six crimes, so the prison sentence that she will request will be high.
In total, the prosecutor estimates at 12.3 million the amount that Shakira should have paid to the Tax Agency for personal income tax for the years 2012, 2013 and 2014 and at almost 2.2 million the amount that she should have paid to the
Tax Agency of Catalonia
for the heritage it had in those years.
An "irreproachable" behavior
After hearing the decision of the Barcelona Court, Shakira's
legal team
remarked that the order "does not assess whether or not there was tax fraud, nor does it dismiss the arguments raised by the defense. It simply summons the parties to present their allegations in a procedural moment different from the current one, and that is how this part will proceed".
In addition, they emphasize that the appeal is "simply one more step in the process" so now they will continue "defending the innocence" of the singer, "through the presentation of weighty legal arguments, verifiable evidence and expert reports from renowned professionals. prestige in the tax field (such as a professor and a magistrate of
the Supreme Court
), who endorse the position of the defense".
"Shakira's conduct in tax matters has always been impeccable in all the countries in which she has had to pay taxes, and she has trusted and faithfully followed the criteria of the best specialists and expert advisors. It should also be remembered that there is no debt with the Spanish Treasury, because it proceeded to pay the amounts as soon as it knew the amount that according to the Spanish Tax Agency it had to pay, "conclude the singer's lawyers.
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Shakira Mebarak
Ministry of Defence
personal income tax
supreme court
Bahamas
Gerard Piqué