First hearing in large-scale tax fraud case involving singer Shakira

NOS News•today, 08:25

The trial against Shakira starts today in Spain. The Colombian singer is on trial for tax evasion between 2012 and 2014.

During that period, 46-year-old Shakira is said to have withheld approximately 14.5 million euros from the Spanish tax authorities. The Public Prosecution Service is demanding a prison sentence of eight years and a fine of 23.7 million euros. Shakira previously rejected a settlement offer from the Public Prosecution Service because she says she did nothing wrong. She is expected to attend the hearing.

The Colombian singer lived in Barcelona for years when she was in a relationship with Spanish footballer Gerard Piqué. The two separated last year after an eleven-year relationship.

The Spanish judiciary accuses Shakira of tampering with residences and companies to evade income taxes on a large scale. Spain’s tax authorities say she is obliged to pay taxes if she has spent 183 or more days in the country.

Shakira says she did not live in Spain between 2012 and 2014, but in the Bahamas because her work led to a ‘nomadic life’. Only after 2015 did she move to Spain.

Spanish justice states that she did not spend a day in her home in the Bahamas from 2012 to 2014 and that she only left Spain for television recordings in the United States. She is said to have bought a house in Barcelona in May 2012 where she lived with her family.

Twelve hearings are scheduled in the case until December 14.

Last summer, Spanish justice again charged Shakira with tax fraud. She is also said to have evaded taxes in 2018, worth 6.6 million euros.

Spanish media report that Shakira has used several letterbox companies to take advantage of favorable tax rules, including one in Amsterdam.