Another tax trial in Spain: Shakira pays 6.6 million euros

2023-11-25 07:57:52

Shakira had already paid this sum to the responsible court in Barcelona in August, the Colombian singer’s agency told the AFP news agency on Friday, confirming a report in the daily newspaper “El Periódico”.

Only on Monday, after an agreement with the public prosecutor’s office, a court in Barcelona announced that the 46-year-old had pleaded guilty and agreed to pay a fine. Specifically, the process should cover the period 2012 to 2014. In the trial, Shakira was sentenced to three years in prison on probation and a fine of more than 7.3 million euros.

In the summer, the Spanish public prosecutor’s office also initiated further criminal proceedings against Shakira. The prosecution accuses her of evading taxes amounting to around 6.6 million euros in 2018.

The payment of 6.6 million euros in this case says nothing about the alleged guilt or innocence of the singer, said the newspaper report from “El Periódico”. The singer, whose full name is Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll, demonstrated her willingness to “repay any debts she may owe to the Spanish tax authorities.”

In the trial that ended on Monday, the public prosecutor’s office accused Shakira of providing false information about her place of residence and thereby defrauding the Spanish tax authorities of almost 14.5 million euros. According to the prosecution, the Colombian moved to Spain with him shortly after her relationship with then FC Barcelona player Gerard Piqué became known in 2011. However, she stated her tax residence was in the Bahamas until 2015.

The suspicion of tax evasion has weighed on Shakira for years. In connection with her residence in the Bahamas, her name appeared in the “Pandora Papers” in 2021, which revealed the tax avoidance tricks of many, some prominent, multimillionaires. After her separation from Piqué became known last year, Shakira now lives in the US metropolis of Miami with her sons Milan and Sasha.