Spanish Prosecutors Demand Shakira Face 8-Year Prison Sentence Over $15 Million Tax Evasion Accusations
Shakira and her famous hips are facing several years in lock up. Spanish prosecutors filed documents on Friday, demanding the judge slap the Hips Don't Lie singer with 8 years in prison after allegedly failing to pay the government 14.5 million euros ($15 million) in taxes, RadarOnline.com has learned.
The decision comes two days after Shakira, 45, rejected the deal she was offered and opted to go to trial to prove her alleged innocence.
The Colombian-born star “trusts her innocence and chooses to leave the issue in the hands of the law,” her R firm Llorente y Cuenca said in a statement about her decision earlier this week.
As RadarOnline.com reported, the Waka Waka singer has been accused of tax evasion after allegedly not paying taxes to the Spanish government between 2012 and 2014, despite living in the country most of that time.
Shakira has always denied any wrongdoing and testified three years ago — however, last year, Judge Marco Juberías declared that there was enough evidence to take her case to trial.
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Her team fiercely denied the claims.
"There is currently no debt," they said when the news first broke. "Shakira has always fulfilled her tax duties in all those countries in which she has worked, including in the period between 2011 and 2014."
"She followed the opinions and precise recommendations of her advisers, who are top-level professionals from one of the biggest companies in the world," they added.
In October, Shakira was named in one of the largest leaks in offshore data history. Dubbed "Pandora Papers," the 11.9 million file leak held a treasure trove of information from 14 companies hired by the world's wealthiest to set up trusts and offshore structures for alleged tax avoidance purposes in places like the Cayman Islands, Switzerland, Dubai, and more.
Shakira's legal woes aren't the only reasons she's making headlines.
The singer shocked the world when she ended her 11-year relationship with football star Gerard Pique in June. The former couple share two children together — sons Milan, 9, and Sasha, 7.
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