Shakira may face eight years’ jail in Spain

A Spanish prosecutor is seeking a prison term of eight years for Colombian superstar Shakira over a 14.5 million-euro tax fraud case, a prosecutor’s office document showed on Friday.

The singer, who has sold more than 80 million records worldwide with hits such as “Hips Don’t Lie”, earlier this week rejected a settlement offer from the prosecutor’s office to close the case.

She is accused of failing to pay taxes between 2012 and 2014, a period in which Shakira says she did not live in Spain.

The prosecutor’s document, seen by Reuters, asserts that Shakira was ordinarily resident in Spain between 2012 and 2014 and in May 2012 bought a house in Barcelona which became a family home for herself, her partner and their son born in Spain in 2013. It asked for an eight-year prison sentence and a fine of more than 23 million euros ($23.5 million) should she be found guilty. No date for a trial has been set yet.

Asked to comment, Shakira’s representatives referred to a previous statement sent out on Wednesday saying she “is fully confident of her innocence” and that she considers the case “a total violation of her rights”.

The terms of the earlier settlement offer have not been disclosed.

The 45-year-old singer - dubbed the Queen of Latin Pop - said she initially paid the 17.2 million euros that the Spanish tax office said she owed and claims she has no outstanding debt with the tax authorities.

The latest development in the tax case comes a month after Shakira and her husband, FC Barcelona defender Gerard Pique, announced they were separating. Shakira, 45, and Pique, 35, have been together since 2011 and have two sons.

Shakira was on the singing competition show between 2013 and 2014.

Her lawyers say that until 2014 she earned most of her money from international tours, moved to Spain full time only in 2015 and has met all tax obligations.

She says she has paid 17.2 million euros to Spanish tax authorities and that she has “no debt to the Treasury for many years”.

A Barcelona court in May dismissed an appeal from the singer to drop the charges.

Shakira was named in one of the largest ever leaks of financial documents in October 2021, known as the “Pandora Papers”, among public figures linked to offshore assets.