A Date For Tax Fraud Trial In Shakira’s Case Has Been Set ( Photo Credit – Instagram )
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If the personal problems of Colombian singer-songwriter Shakira were not enough, it seems the crooner also has to deal with the law over her tax evasion case. The 46-year-old songstress might end up for 8 years in jail after she has been accused of evading taxes for more than 14.5 million euros and for defrauding the Spanish treasury between 2012 and 2014.
Shakira might land behind bars if she is proven guilty. Shakira is accused of claiming that she did not live in Spain for three years despite staying with her former partner Gerard Pique, who at the time was a Barcelona player. Read on for more details.
According to a report in Pinkvilla, the prosecutors in the case want Shakira to be fined 23 million euros apart from her jail time. The singer recently travelled to Miami with her two children earlier this month. Reports suggest that a date for the award-winning singer’s trial has been set after approximately 200 witnesses testified against her. The trial, as per reports, will begin on November 20 and will last for 20 sessions. The final session will take place on December 14, 2023. Shakira’s former partner Gerard Pique might not be asked to testify. If reports are to be believed, Shakira may be allowed to leave after testifying.
Shakira earlier took a dig at Spanish tax officials before leaving Barcelona for her new home in Miami. She had accused the Spanish Treasury of employing “unacceptable methods to damage her reputation and force her to come to a settlement agreement.”
The Whenver, Wherever hitmaker had claimed that she had no intentions of entering into any last-minute plea bargains and would rather prefer going to a trial. For the unversed, anyone who spends more than 183 days in Spain in a calendar year is considered a Spanish resident.
Shedding light on the same, Shakira’s publicists, LLYC, issued a statement in November saying, “Shakira is a taxpayer who has always demonstrated impeccable tax conduct and has never had tax problems in any other jurisdiction.” The statement further read, “She never exceeded the 183 days of presence in Spain required to be a tax resident.”
The statement ended, “With no solid evidence to back up the charges against her, she has been relentlessly pursued in the criminal and media spheres, employing unacceptable methods to harm her reputation and force her to reach a settlement agreement.”
