The Barcelona Prosecutor’s Office asks for eight years and two months in prison for the Colombian singer Shakira, whom he accuses of six crimes against the Public Treasury for defrauding 14.5 million euros between 2012 and 2014, pretending that he did not reside in Spain.
The Public Ministry presented his indictment before the court instructing the case, after the Barcelona Court confirmed that he should go to trial, given the indications that he had lived in Spain since 2012 and, therefore, had been obliged since then. to pay taxes in this country.
The Colombian artist, who has already returned the 14.5 million that the Spanish Tax Agency demanded of her and three others from interests -which does not prevent her from sitting on the bench-, is prosecuted as a result of a complaint that the Barcelona Prosecutor’s Office filed against her for six crimes against the public treasury.
Last Wednesday, the singer’s communication agency announced that Shakira had rejected the agreement offered by the Prosecutor’s Office to avoid being tried, since she “fully” trusts her innocence.
His legal team held talks with the Barcelona Prosecutor’s Office to reach an agreement that would reduce the sentence that could correspond to him, but decided to reject the latest offer from the public ministry.
In a statement, Shakira assured that she has chosen to “leave the issue in the hands of the law, with the tranquility and confidence that justice will prove her right.”
Despite the fact that the prosecution and defense did not reach an agreement of conformity, which would not have prevented Shakira from sitting on the bench, the singer could still agree with the Prosecutor’s Office until the day of the trial.
His will has always been to move forward in the criminal process, without settling for a reduction in the sentence that could correspond to him, the statement highlights.
The Spanish Treasury claimed about 14.5 million euros when seeing indications that in 2012 the singer already resided in Spain and was obliged to pay taxes in this country since then, but allegedly hid income through a network based in tax havens.
The artist has already paid those 14.5 million euros and another three in interest, which does not prevent her from going to trial for alleged tax fraud between 2012 and 2014.
The case dates back to 2017, when the so-called “paradise papers”, an investigation carried out by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), revealed that she lived in Barcelona with her then-husband, the FC Barcelona footballer, Gerard Piqué , and her two children, but was allegedly domiciled in the tax haven of the Bahamas.
Last month the artist announced her separation from the player, her partner for the last twelve years.
The investigation also ensured that the singer managed in two countries with tax advantages, Malta and Luxembourg, about 31.6 million euros for copyright of her songs.
The singer’s lawyers clarified that she had lived in the Bahamas since 2004 but in the following years she had to travel “without stopping”, that until 2015 her presence in Spain did not exceed the period that requires her to pay taxes and that the management of those millions carried out since 2007 through a Maltese company that “complies with all legal requirements”.
