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The Financial Express

‘Shakira should face fine of $23m, eight-year jail term for tax fraud’

Spanish prosecutor says


| Updated: July 30, 2022 19:44:18


-Reuters file photo -Reuters file photo

A Spanish prosecutor has asked for more than eight years in prison for Colombian superstar Shakira and a fine of more than 23 million euros ($23.51 million) over a 14.5 million euro tax fraud case, Spanish newspaper El Pais reported on Friday.

The prosecutor's office and Shakira's representatives were not immediately available for comment, reports Reuters.

On Wednesday, the Latin American superstar rejected a settlement offered by the prosecutor in her 14.5 million euro Spanish tax fraud case and is now a step closer to going to trial, her media team said.

The Colombian singer - who has sold more than 80 million records worldwide with hits such as "Hips Don't Lie" - has always met all of her tax obligations, a statement said. She considers the case "a total violation of her rights," it said.

"The singer is fully confident of her innocence and therefore does not accept a settlement," the statement said.

The terms of the proposed settlement were not disclosed.

The prosecutor's office in Barcelona did not reply to a request for comment.

Shakira is accused of failing to pay up 14.5 million euros ($14.7 million) in tax income between 2012 and 2014, a period in which Shakira's representatives say she did not live in Spain.

The 45-year-old singer - dubbed "the Queen of Latin Music" -says she moved to Barcelona in 2015, where she lived with FC Barcelona soccer club defender Gerard Pique. They have two chidren and recently separated.

Shakira says even though her legal team disagreed about the alleged debt, she paid the 17.2 million that the Spanish tax office claimed she owed so she has had no outstanding debt with the tax authorities for many years.

The court still has to formally send her to stand trial and set a date.

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