Shakira Facing 8-Years For Tax Fraud
The “Hips Don’t Lie” singer, rejected a settlement offer from the prosecutor’s office earlier this week.
Shakira is accused of failing to pay taxes between 2012 and 2014, claiming that she did not live in Spain.
The prosecutor’s document asserts that Shakira primarily resided in Spain between 2012 and 2014 and in May 2012 bought a house in Barcelona which became a family home for herself, her partner, and their son born in Spain in 2013.
It asked for an eight-year prison sentence and a fine of more than 23 million euros ($23.5 million) should she be found guilty. A trial date has not been set.
Shakira’s representatives say she “is fully confident of her innocence” and that she considers the case “a total violation of her rights”.
The terms of the earlier settlement offer have not been disclosed.
The 45-year-old Queen of Latin Pop – said she paid the 17.2 million euros that the Spanish tax office said she owed and claims she has no outstanding debt with the tax authorities.
The latest development in the tax case comes a month after Shakira and her husband, FC Barcelona defender Gerard Pique, announced they were separating. Shakira, 45, and Pique, 35, have been together since 2011 and share two sons.