Spanish prosecutors seek eight-year sentence for Shakira
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Spain's prosecutors aim to seek a prison sentence of more than eight years for worldwide music diva Shakira.
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Spanish prosecutors call for eight-year sentence for Shakira
Prosecutors in Barcelona announced Friday that they would seek a prison sentence of more than eight years for worldwide music diva Shakira after she turned down a plea offer on tax evasion charges.
They are seeking a nearly 24 million euro punishment against the 45-year-old "Hips Don't Lie" songstress, accusing her of defrauding the Spanish tax office of 14.5 million euros ($14.7 million) on revenue received between 2012 and 2014. The court will now need to decide on holding a trial and set a date.
Prosecutors claim Shakira relocated to Spain in 2011 after her relationship with FC Barcelona defender Gerard Pique became known, but she kept her formal tax residency in the Bahamas until 2015.
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Shakira has condemned the prosecutors' "complete violation of her rights" and "abusive methods," claiming they were "insisting on claiming money earned during my international tours and the show The Voice on which she was a judge in the United States while she was "not yet resident in Spain."
Between 2013 and 2014, Shakira appeared on the singing competition show. Shakira's legal team claims she only came to Spain full-time in 2015 and has completed her tax responsibilities.
She claims she has paid 17.2 million euros in taxes to the Spanish government and has "no debt to the treasury for many years."
