Accused of tax evasion in Spain, the Colombian star Shakira, who pleads not guilty, said Wednesday that she refuses to seal an agreement with the prosecution and wants to go to trial.
According to his lawyers, the possibility of reaching an agreement remains open until the opening of the trial in a Barcelona court while the formal dismissal of the 45-year-old star has not yet been pronounced.
“Absolutely sure of her innocence” (…) Shakira does not accept an agreement “with the prosecution” and decides to continue “the procedure until the trial,” her advisers indicated in a press release, affirming that the singer is “sure of that justice will prove him right”.
Tax evasion of 14.5 million euros
Contacted by AFP, the prosecution was not immediately available.
Denouncing a “total violation of her rights” and “abusive methods” by the prosecution, Shakira states in this press release that she “stubbornly insists on claiming the money collected during my international tours and (the show) The voice“, of which she was sworn in in the United States, at a time when “she was not yet a resident in Spain”.
Shakira also argues that she has already paid 17.2 million euros to the Spanish Treasury and therefore “has not had debts with the Treasury for many years.”
The prosecution accuses the interpreter of the blows Hips do not lie, waka waka Where crazy tax evasion of 14.5 million euros during the years 2012, 2013 and 2014.
international tours
According to the prosecution, Shakira had resided in Spain since 2011, when her relationship with FC Barcelona footballer Gerard Piqué was made public, but had maintained her tax residence in the Bahamas Islands, considered a tax haven, until 2015. The couple, who have two children, announced their separation in June.
Les avocats de Shakira estiment pour leur part que jusqu’en 2014, la más grande part de ses revenus coming from ses tournées internationales et quelle ne vivait pas plus de six mois para an en Espagne, condition requise pour établir sa résidence fiscale dans the country.
In May, a Barcelona court rejected an appeal by the singer demanding that the charges be dropped.
Shakira’s name appears among the cités in the Pandora Papers, a vast enquête published at the end of 2021 by the Consortium international des journalistes d’investigation, accusant plus centaines de personalités d’avoir dissimulé des avoirs dans des sociétés offshore, notamment à des fins d ‘tax evasion.
Source: BFM TV
