Colombian singer Shakira faces trial in Barcelona on Monday in a tax fraud case, with Spanish prosecutors aiming for an eight-year-plus jail time period for the Grammy-winning artist.
The 46-year-old is accused of defrauding the Spanish state of 14.5 million euros ($15.7 million) from revenue earned between 2012 and 2014. Regardless of the fees, Shakira denies wrongdoing, asserting that she solely established full-time residency in Spain in 2015.
The trial revolves round figuring out the period of time the famend singer, recognized for chart-toppers like “Hips Don’t Lie,” “Every time, Wherever,” and the 2010 World Cup anthem “Waka Waka,” spent in Spain through the years 2012 to 2014.
The tax case towards Shakira usually hailed because the Queen of Latin Pop, centres on Spanish authorities’ declare that she spent greater than half of the interval between 2012 and 2014 in Spain and will have paid taxes within the nation. They assert that regardless of publicly revealing her relationship with former FC Barcelona star Gerard Pique in 2011, she formally maintained tax residency within the Bahamas till 2015 when she moved to Spain.
Based on the prosecution, Shakira allegedly utilized a community of corporations primarily based in tax havens to deliberately evade paying taxes in Spain. Prosecutors are pushing for a jail time period of eight years and two months, together with a hefty effective of almost 24 million euros ($24 million {dollars}).
In her defence, Shakira’s legal professionals argue that till 2014, she led a “nomadic life,” primarily incomes revenue from worldwide excursions. They declare that she solely established everlasting residency in Barcelona simply earlier than the beginning of her second son in January 2015. The singer herself said in a 2022 interview with Elle journal that she had already settled all claimed owed quantities earlier than the lawsuit, emphasizing that she owed nothing on the time.
Shakira’s private life additionally underwent important modifications, as she introduced her separation from Gerard Pique in June 2022 after a decade-long relationship. Following the cut up, she moved to Miami in April with their two sons, Milan and Sasha.
Shakira’s high-profile trial is ready to kick off at a Barcelona court docket at 10 am (0900 GMT) and is anticipated to proceed till December 14, that includes testimony from almost 120 witnesses. Whereas the singer is predicted to take the stand through the trial’s opening session, there’s a chance she might search court docket permission to be absent from subsequent hearings.
The trial is poised to disclose intimate particulars of her non-public life, as Spanish prosecutors carried out an exhaustive investigation to substantiate their case. Their strategy included interviewing neighbours, scrutinizing her social media pictures, inspecting funds at hair salons, and even reviewing the well being clinic she frequented throughout her being pregnant, all geared toward supporting their accusations.
The proceedings are more likely to delve into questions on Shakira’s funds, including a layer of complexity to the trial and intensifying the general public’s curiosity surrounding the authorized battle.
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