Shakira on trial for tax fraud: she faces 8 years in prison

Alleged tax fraud for

.

She is accused of this Shakira, the Colombian singer-songwriter: she will be tried before the provincial court of Barcelona. 

The world-famous singer now

as she had already requested by the prosecutor. 

"It was agreed to open the oral trial before the

(...) against Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll, as the alleged perpetrator of six crimes against the public treasury", reads the order of a court on the outskirts of Barcelona released today, but dated 19 September.   

The opening date of the trial has not yet been established, as reported by press sources that relaunch the news both in Spain and abroad, specifying that the court has not imposed

until then. 

At the end of July, the prosecutor had asked for more than eight years of imprisonment and a

for Shakira, accused of having defrauded the Spanish tax authorities of 14.5 million euros from 2012 to 2014.   

Specifically again, the Prosecutor's Office accused the Colombian pop music star of having

created years earlier to avoid paying taxes in Spain in the years 2012, 2013 and 2014, despite residing in the country for more than 183 days per year. year required by law.   

The 45-year-old artist, who has achieved world fame thanks to international successes such as Waka Waka, Hips don't lie, Loca or Chantaje, has always

denied the allegations. 

"

," Shakira said in an interview published on September 21 by Elle magazine, in which she claimed to have "the belief that she has done things in the most correct and transparent way since day one." 

The prosecutor and the singer's defense sought an

, but last July Shakira had given up on this possibility, demonstrating confidence that "justice will prove her right," according to her legal representatives in Barcelona, ​​where the star lives.   

"The prosecutor insisted on collecting the money he earned on his international tours and on The Voice", the American television program he was a judge on, at a time when "

", his lawyers denounced. 

Furthermore, in the interview with Elle, Shakira openly accused the Spanish Treasury of using "an

to try to influence people and pressure the media along with the threat of reputational damage to force settlement agreements". 

The singer further raged by saying that "it is well known that the Spanish tax authorities often do this not only with well-known personalities like me, or Ronaldo, Neymar, Alonso and many others, but it also happens unfairly with other anonymous taxpayers".   

until 2015.

, considered a tax haven. 

The couple, who have two children, announced their

.

Shakira appeared in the so-called Pandora Papers, a vast in-depth investigation of millions of leaked documents, published in 2021 by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalism, revealing that hundreds of personalities have resorted to tax havens, mainly to evade the treasury coffers of different Villages.