Colombian pop star Shakira will be tried in Barcelona for alleged tax fraud, at a date yet to be defined, according to a Spanish justice order released on Tuesday.

“It was agreed to open the oral trial before the Barcelona Provincial Court (…) against Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll, as alleged author” of six crimes against the public treasury, indicated the order of a court on the outskirts of Barcelona dated 19 September.

The aforementioned court did not impose any precautionary measures until the trial.

At the end of July, the prosecutor asked for more than eight years of imprisonment and a fine of almost 24 million euros (23.1 million dollars) for Shakira, accused of defrauding 14.5 million euros (14 million dollars) from Spanish treasury from 2012 to 2014.

The prosecutor accuses Shakira of using a “corporate structure” created years earlier do not pay taxes in Spain in the years 2012, 2013 and 2014, despite having already resided in the country for more than the 183 days per year required by law.

The 45-year-old artist, known for international hits such as Waka Waka, Hips don’t lie or BlackmailHe has always denied the allegations.

“These are false allegations,” Shakira said in an interview published on Sept. 21 by the magazine shein which he stated that he had “the confidence to have done things in the most correct and transparent way from day one”.

The prosecutor and the singer’s defense sought an agreement to avoid trial, but in July Shakira renounced this possibility, showing confidence that “justice will prove her right,” according to her legal representatives in Barcelona. where the star.

“The Prosecutor’s Office worked to collect the money earned [sus] international tours e The voice“, the American television program in which he was a judge, at a time when” he was not yet a resident of Spain “, denounced his representatives at that time.

In the interview with sheShakira accused the Spanish treasury of using “an obscene press campaign to try to influence people and put pressure on the media along with the threat of reputational damage to forced settlement agreements“.

“It is well known that the Spanish tax authorities often do this not only with famous people like me, either [Cristiano] Ronaldo, Neymar, [Xabi] Alonso and many others, but also unfairly happens to other anonymous contributors“added the singer.

The prosecutor’s office assures that Shakira has lived in Spain since at least fiscal year 2012, shortly after her relationship with FC Barcelona footballer Gerard Piqué was made public, but she maintained her tax residency in the Bahamas until 2015, considered a tax haven.

The couple, who have two children, announced their separation last June.

Shakira appeared in the calls Pandora cardsan in-depth investigation of millions of leaked documents published in 2021 by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, which pointed out that hundreds of personalities have resorted to tax havens, mainly to evade the treasury coffers of different countries.

Source: AFP.

LG