Pop star Shakira agreed to a deal with Spanish authorities on the first day of a tax fraud trial in Barcelona on Monday, avoiding the risk of a prison sentence.
Shakira told the presiding magistrate, José Manuel del Amo, that she accepted the agreement reached with the prosecutor.
He answered “yes” to confirm his plea to six counts of failing to pay the Spanish government about $15.8 million in taxes between 2012 and 2014.
Under the deal, Shakira will receive a three-year suspended sentence and a $7.6 million fine.
The trial, which will involve more than 100 witnesses in the following weeks, was instead called off after just eight minutes.
Prosecutors said in July that they would seek eight years and two months in prison and a $26 million fine for the singer, who has won fans around the world for his hits in Spanish and English in different musical genres.
The case hinges on where Shakira, now 46, lived during that period. Prosecutors in Barcelona have claimed the Colombian singer spent more than half of that period in Spain and therefore should have paid tax on his worldwide income in that country even though his official residence is still in the Bahamas. Tax rates are much lower in the Bahamas than in Spain.
Shakira arrives in court in Barcelona, Spain, on Monday, Nov. 20, 2023. AP Shakira faces six counts of failing to pay Spanish government taxes of $15.8 million between 2012 and 2014. AP
“This was a difficult decision that took time to reach, a difficult decision driven by her desire to focus on raising her children and her professional career,” defense attorney Miriam Company told reporters.
“Her legal team prepared for the trial and were confident we could show her innocence, but things changed and (Shakira) chose to accept the deal.”
The multiple Grammy and Latin Grammy winner waved and blew kisses to a small crowd of spectators before entering the court.
He sat briefly before a panel of judges, flanked by the prosecution on one side and the defense on the other.
Lawyers for Colombian singer Shakira, Miriam Company speak to the media on the day of Shakira’s trial on tax fraud charges in Barcelona, Spain November 20, 2023.REUTERS Shakira leaves the High Court of Justice of Catalonia after attending her trial on tax fraud, in Barcelona on November 20. 2023.AFP via Getty Images
Shakira rejected a deal offered to her by prosecutors to settle her case in July 2022, saying, through her Spanish public relations firm Llorente y Cuenca, that she “believes she is innocent and chooses to leave the issue in the hands of the law. ”
Details of the potential deal were not made public.
Shakira was named in the leaked “Paradise Papers” which detailed the offshore tax arrangements of many high-profile individuals, including music celebrities such as Madonna and U2’s Bono.
Shakira’s public relations firm previously said that she had paid off all of her debts and an additional $3.2 million in interest.
Shakira poses with her and Karol G’s Vanguard Video Award and Best Collaboration Award for “TQG” at the 2023 MTV Video Music Awards at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, on September 12, 2023.REUTERS
The defense team for Shakira, Barcelona firm Molins Defensa Penal, said in November 2022 that she did not spend more than 60 days a year in the country during that period, adding that she would have to spend half the year in Spain to be considered a fiscal resident.
His defense argued that he was away from Barcelona for long periods on a world tour in 2011 and then spent a lot of time in the United States as part of the judges for the NBC television music talent show The Voice.
Spanish prosecutors disagreed, and the investigating judge, Marco Juberías, wrote in 2021 of the conclusion of a three-year investigation into the charges that he found there was “sufficient criminal evidence” for the case to go to trial.
Shakira maintained her innocence when she was questioned by Juberías in 2019.
He lost an appeal to have the case thrown out last year.
Shakira established her fiscal residence in Spain in 2014 at the same time her eldest son was enrolled in school in Barcelona, according to her defense team, because she would spend more time in the country with her family.
In Spain, an investigating judge conducts a preliminary investigation and decides whether to throw out the case or send it to trial. Courts can waive prison sentences for first-time offenders if they are sentenced to less than two years in prison.
Shakira performs before the final singles tennis match between Canada and Spain at the 2019 Madrid Davis Cup Final in Madrid on Nov. 24. 2019.AFP via Getty Images
In a separate investigation, Spanish prosecutors charged Shakira in September with alleged tax evasion of 6.7 million euros on her 2018 earnings.
They accused him of using offshore companies based in tax havens to avoid paying taxes.
Spain has cracked down on soccer stars like Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo over the past decade for not paying their full taxes.
The former Barcelona and Real Madrid star was found guilty of evading but both avoided jail time after their sentences were suspended.
Shakira, whose full name is Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll, has two children, Milan and Sasha, with Barcelona soccer star Gerard Piqué. The couple lived together in Barcelona before ending their 11-year relationship last year. Since then, he has lived in Miami.
After winning the Latin Grammy Awards gala in Seville on Thursday, Shakira thanked her fans in Spain for “being with me in good and bad times.”
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
