Shakira Is Getting Closer To Maybe Going To Jail
The singer is being accused of tax evasion and using offshore tax havens to hide sources of income.
It’s been two months since we first announced that Shakira might be going to jail, and we’re sorry to report that it’s now looking even more likely! Shakira could be totally going to jail!
ICYMI, the Colombian singer is being pursued by the Spanish government over alleged tax fraud, with prosecutors alleging that she evaded Spanish tax while living in the country from 2012-2014.
They reckon she spent more than 200 days in the European country during each of those years and didn’t pay the requisite tax during that time. (An individual who stays in Spain for any more than 184 days of the year is considered a financial resident by law.)
The singer is also being accused of using offshore tax havens in an attempt to hide sources of her income. Just like hips, paper trails famously don’t lie.
While Shakira has vehemently denied the charges, on Tuesday Spanish prosecutors decided that the case would go to trial, according to the Associated Press.
Shakira has asserted that she had to live a “nomadic life” due to the demands of her career, and maintains that she’s done nothing wrong.
“I have to fight for what I believe because these are false accusations,” the singer said in a new interview with Elle. “I owe zero to them.”
The singer seems to believe that the Spanish Government is simply going in for a money grab given her past relationship with Spanish footballer Gerard Piqué.
“While Gerard and I were dating, I was on a world tour,” she explained to the magazine. “I spent more than 240 days outside of Spain, so there was no way I qualified as a resident. The Spanish tax authorities saw that I was dating a Spanish citizen and started to salivate. It’s clear they wanted to go after that money no matter what.”
A deep dive into Shakira’s total time spent in Spain was published in the Spanish-language newspaper El País, where reporter Jesus Garcia alleged that Shakira spent more than 184 days in Spain in 2012, 2013, and 2014.
A trial date is still yet to be set, but a prison sentence of at least eight years alongside a hefty fine could quite possibly be on the cards.
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