When it comes to being accused of tax evasion, Shakira is not going down without a fight. In fact, she’s maintaining her innocence and is going to trial in Spain. This after failing to reach a settlement with prosecutors.
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If convicted, Shakira could serve a lengthy prison sentence and a massive fine.
As relayed by Spanish news website El País, Shakira has been accused of committing a whopping six cases of tax fraud. Prosecutors have recommended a sentence of eight years and two months. As well as a fine that amounts to about $23.5 million.
But in an interview with Elle magazine, she categorized the accusations as false.
“I’ve paid everything they claimed I owed, even before they filed a lawsuit,” she said. “So as of today, I owe zero to them. And finally, I was advised by one of the four biggest tax specialist firms in the world, PricewaterhouseCoopers, so I was confident that I was doing things correctly and transparently from day one.”
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The alleged fraud supposedly occurred between 2012-14. It was during that time frame, Spanish prosecutors allege, that Shakira was residing in Barcelona after striking up a relationship with soccer player Gerard Piqué. During that period, she maintained a fiscal residence in the Bahamas, yet avoided paying taxes in Spain, prosecutors say.
Shakira countered by telling Elle this is typical of the way Spanish tax regulators harass. Not just for celebrities, but everyday citizens.
“However, even without evidence to support these fictional claims, as they usually do, they’ve resorted to a salacious press campaign to try to sway people, and apply pressure in the media along with the threat of reputational damage in order to coerce settlement agreements,” she said. “It is well known that the Spanish tax authorities do this often not only with celebrities like me (or [Cristiano] Ronaldo, Neymar, [Xabi] Alonso, and many more), it also happens unjustly to the regular taxpayer. It’s just their style. But I’m confident that I have enough proof to support my case and that justice will prevail in my favor.”