According to a document from the prosecutor’s office on Friday, a Spanish prosecutor is requesting an eight-year prison sentence for Colombian pop star Shakira in connection with a 14.5 million euro tax fraud case.
The singer earlier this week rejected a settlement offer from the prosecutor’s office to end the case. The singer has sold more than 80 million records worldwide with hits like “Hips Don’t Lie.”
Shakira claims she did not reside in Spain between 2012 and 2014, but she is accused of failing to pay taxes during that time.
According to a prosecutor’s document obtained by Reuters, Shakira lived in Spain regularly between 2012 and 2014. In May 2012, she purchased a home in Barcelona that she and her partner used to raise their son, who was born there in 2013.
Should she be found guilty, it demanded an eight-year prison term and a fine of more than 23 million euros ($23.5 million). A trial date has not yet been scheduled.
When prompted for comment, Shakira’s agents cited a prior statement she had made on Wednesday in which she stated that she “is fully confident of her innocence” and that the situation “amounts to a total violation of her rights.”
The earlier settlement offer’s terms were kept confidential.
The 45-year-old singer, known as the Queen of Latin Pop, asserts that she has no unpaid tax debt and that she paid the 17.2 million euros that the Spanish tax office claimed she owed.
The singer of “Hips Don’t Lie” is currently being tried in Spain for alleged tax fraud after losing an appeal on May 26. She is accused of failing to pay up to $15.5 million in taxes on income earned between 2012 and 2014, according to the prosecution. View More
In a statement, her legal team promised to continue making persuasive legal arguments on her behalf.
