Pop singer Shakira to face trial over tax fraud in Spain

A Spanish choose on Tuesday authorized a trial for Colombian pop singer Shakira on fees of tax fraud. Spanish prosecutors accused the entertainer in 2018 of failing to pay 14.5 million euros ($13.9 million) in taxes on earnings earned between 2012 and 2014. 

Prosecutors are in search of an eight-year jail sentence and a hefty high quality if she is discovered responsible of tax evasion.

Shakira, 45, has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing and rejected a cope with authorities to keep away from going to trial. Her public relations agency has stated that she has already paid all that she owed and an extra 3 million euros ($2.8 million) in curiosity.

The court docket, primarily based within the city of Esplugues de Llobregat close to Barcelona, stated that Shakira will face six counts of tax fraud. The date for the trial has but to be set.

The case hinges on the place Shakira lived throughout 2012-14. Prosecutors in Barcelona have alleged the Grammy winner spent greater than half of that interval in Spain and may have paid taxes within the nation, although her official residence was within the Bahamas.

Shakira, whose full title is Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll, has been linked to Spain since she began relationship soccer participant Gerard Pique. The couple, who’ve two kids, used to reside collectively in Barcelona however not too long ago ended their 11-year relationship.

Spain has cracked down on soccer stars like Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo over the previous decade for not paying their full due in taxes. They have been discovered responsible of evasion however each averted jail time because of a provision that enables a choose to waive sentences underneath two years in size for first-time offenders.