Shakira to go on trial in Spain for tax fraud: What is the case?

Just days after her success at the Latin Grammys, Colombian popstar Shakira is set to go on trial in Barcelona on Monday for allegedly cheating Spain’s tax office out of €14.5 million (Rs 131 crore). Prosecutors are seeking a jail term of eight years and two months, and a fine of nearly €24 million (Rs 218 crore) for the 46-year-old singer, who now lives in Miami with her two sons Milan and Sasha. She has denied any wrongdoing and turned down a plea deal with prosecutors, paving the way for the trial which is set to get underway on Monday at 10 am. The tax-fraud case The case centres on where the singer, whose hit singles include Hips Don’t Lie, Whenever, Whenever and the 2010 World Cup song Waka Waka, lived between 2012 and 2014. Spanish tax authorities claim Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll – dubbed the Queen of Latin Pop – primarily lived in Spain during that time with her then-boyfriend FC Barcelona defender Gerard Pique, and their family, only travelling abroad for short periods due to professional commitments. The lawsuit filed against her alleges that she listed the Bahamas as her primary residence until 2015. Shakira and Piqué, whom she met on the set of her “Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)” music video in 2010, announced their split in June 2022. They share sons nine-year-old Milan, and seven-year-old Sasha. “The general rule in Spain is, for each year, if you reside, if you’re domiciled in Spain, you owe taxes. Domiciled is defined, for the most part, as being there for more than half the year. You’re supposed to keep a diary or a calendar of where you are on every day,” trial attorney Jesse Bolling, who is not involved in the tax case, told Good Morning America in July 2022. “She just needs to prove she wasn’t there, and the Spanish tax authority will try to rebut that,” Bolling added. [caption id=“attachment_13401092” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] FC Barcelona’s Gerard Pique with Shakira during the match between Spain’s Rafael Nadal and Canada’s Denis Shapovalov. Reuters[/caption] According to AFP, in its indictment, the prosecution claims that Shakira “used a set of companies” based in tax havens “with the intention of not paying” tax in Spain. Spanish prosecutors have carried out a meticulous investigation to prove their case. They interviewed her neighbours, tracked her images on social networks, and checked her payments at hairdressers and even the health clinic she attended during her pregnancy to prove their accusation. Singer denies allegations Shakira’s lawyers say that until 2014, she was leading a “nomadic life” and earned most of her money from international tours and that she only moved permanently to Barcelona just before the birth of her second son in January 2015. She says that during that time, she filed her taxes and spent the majority of her time in the Bahamas. In addition, Shakira’s PR firm asserts that she has already paid out all taxes, plus extra interest, that she owed the Spanish government during the time she claimed to be a resident of the Bahamas, according to ABC News. In testimony given in June 2019 at a relevant court session, she refuted the tax evasion charges, which were brought in December 2018, as well as any misconduct. The Associated Press reports that in July 2021, a Spanish court suggested that there be a trial since there was sufficient proof of the alleged tax cheating. The singer’s appeal was denied by a Barcelona court in May 2022, ruling that there was enough evidence to support her prosecution. In July 2022, the singer decided to proceed with a trial rather than accept a settlement offer from the authorities. The details of that settlement offer are still confidential. “Shakira has always cooperated and abided by the law, demonstrating impeccable conduct as an individual and a taxpayer, and faithfully following the counsel of PriceWaterhouseCoopers, a prestigious and globally recognized tax firm,” a representative for Shakira said at the time, the report says. “Unfortunately, the Spanish Tax Office, which loses one out of every two lawsuits with its taxpayers, continues to violate her rights and pursue yet another baseless case,” the statement continued. “Shakira is confident that her innocence will be proven by the end of the judicial process.” [caption id=“attachment_13401072” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Shakira performs during the 24th annual Latin Grammy Awards in Seville, Spain. AP[/caption] The singer was given an order to face trial in September 2022. In an interview with Elle that was released that same month, Shakira discussed the tax fraud claims and reaffirmed her innocence, referring to the accusations as “false accusations.” “First of all, I didn’t spend 183 days per year at that time at all. I was busy fulfilling my professional commitments around the world. Second, I’ve paid everything they claimed I owed, even before they filed a lawsuit. So as of today, I owe zero to them,” she told the outlet. Further speaking about the tax advice she received, the singer added, “I was advised by one of the four biggest tax specialist firms in the world, PricewaterhouseCoopers, so I was confident that I was doing things correctly and transparently from day one.” She also criticised the way tax matters were handled by Spanish courts. “Even without evidence to support these fictional claims, as they usually do, they’ve resorted to a salacious press campaign to try to sway people, and apply pressure in the media along with the threat of reputational damage in order to coerce settlement agreements,” she told the magazine. The high-profile trial The trial comes after Shakira had a big night at the Latin Grammy Awards held in Seville in southern Spain on Thursday, where she performed twice and picked up three awards, including for song of the year and best pop sing for her collaboration with Argentine DJ Bizzarap on “Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 53.” The track takes swipes at her former partner Pique – the couple broke up last year after a decade-long relationship – and includes a reference to being left with a “debt to the tax office”. It has been played almost 1.5 billion times on Spotify and YouTube. “People on my team tried to convince me to change the lyrics, but I’m not a UN diplomat. I am an artist and, above all, a woman,” Shakira said in an interview published in Spanish celebrity magazine Hola! in which she made no reference to her looming trial. The high-profile trial is expected to hear from nearly 120 witnesses and to run until 14 December. While the singer is expected to testify during the opening session of the trial, she may request permission from the court to not be present at the remaining hearings. Even without presence, details of her private life will likely emerge during the proceedings. The singer’s financial situation has already come under scrutiny. In the case of the diva, her Bahamas house was included in the 2021 “Pandora Papers” leaks, which exposed the riches and tax evasion tactics of the world’s wealthiest. Shakira might have to serve time in jail if she is proven guilty. Similar cases Shakira is not the first one to engage in a conflict with Spanish authorities over tax evasion. In 2019, soccer player Cristiano Ronaldo received a punishment of about €19 million for tax fraud. In 2017, fellow soccer great Lionel Messi was found guilty of three charges of tax fraud and fined two million euros. There have been numerous accusations of tax fraud in Spain against prominent celebrities and athletes. Because of a Spanish statute that reduces jail terms to less than 24 months for people without a criminal history, neither Ronaldo nor Messi had to serve time in prison. With inputs from agencies