Shakira Tax Fraud Case: Prosecutor seeks 8 years prison term and USD 23 million fine for Hips Don’t Lie singer

Shakira could be seeing a prison sentence in her near future! According to a prosecutor’s office document obtained by Reuters, a Spanish prosecutor is seeking a prison sentence of eight years for the Hips Don’t Lie singer over a 14.5 million euros tax fraud case, accused of defrauding Spain’s government. If proven guilty, Shakira will also have to pay a fine of more than 23 million euros (USD 23.5 million).

The latest shocking development arose after Shakira rejected a plea deal from prosecutors to settle the case. For the unversed, Shakira allegedly didn’t pay taxes between 2012 to 2014, but the 45-year-old singer claims she didn’t live in Spain during that period. The prosecutor’s document further asserted that the Dancing With Myself star was ordinarily resident in Spain during that time while in May 2012, she allegedly brought a house in Barcelona that eventually became a family home for Shakira, former partner FC Barcelona defender Gerard Piqué and their son Milan, who was born in Spain in 2013. The ex-couple also shares a son Sasha, born in 2015.

Shakira’s representative maintains that the singer “is fully confident of her innocence” and also that she considers the tax fraud case “a total violation of her rights.” The Queen of Latin Pop had initially stated that she had paid 17.2 million euros, which is what the Spanish tax office had said she owed, whilst claiming that she had no outstanding debt with the tax authorities.

No date has been set for the trial yet. Intriguingly, Shakira’s tax woes came into the limelight a month after she and Gerard Piqué announced they were separating in June.

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