Singer Shakira will be tried for tax evasion in Barcelona
Singer Shakira is being prosecuted for tax evasion in Spain.
Greg Allen/Invision/AP - Greg Allen
Text by: RFI Follow
2 mins
In Spain, justice has just confirmed that the Colombian singer Shakira will indeed be tried for tax evasion in Barcelona.
Advertising
Read more
It is now official, Shakira will sit in the dock for tax evasion.
The investigating judge of Esplugues, in the suburbs of Barcelona, confirmed on Tuesday the holding of a trial against the Colombian singer for six tax offenses, after the failure of negotiations between her lawyers and the prosecutor, reports our correspondent at Barcelona,
Elise Gazengel
.
She is accused of having evaded 14.5 million euros from the tax authorities between 2012 and 2014 by not paying her income and wealth taxes in Spain while she was residing there, according to the prosecution.
Then in a relationship with FC Barcelona footballer Gerard Pique, the singer 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 per year. year in Spain, a requirement to establish tax residence in the country.
She further argued that she had already paid 17.2 million euros to the Spanish tax authorities and therefore no longer had any debt towards him.
Up to eight years in prison and a fine of 24 million euros
The star – who considers himself the victim of relentless authorities –
faces up to eight years in prison and a fine of 24 million euros
.
"
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 to salivate.
It is clear that they wanted this money without worrying about 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
," said the singer, for whom going to trial "
is a matter of principle
”.
Shakira's name is also among those cited in the Pandora Papers, a vast investigation published at the end of 2021 by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, accusing several hundred personalities of having concealed assets in offshore companies, in particular from tax evasion purposes.
(
And with
AFP)
Newsletter
Receive all the international news directly in your mailbox
I subscribe
Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application
Spain