Seville 11/16/23 Latin Grammy Awards Gala 2023 Official Red Carpet, Shakira Photo. Paco PuentesPaco Puentes
Ahead of the tax fraud trial that begins this Monday in the Barcelona court, Shakira is inclined to seal a pact with the accusations that will avoid a criminal trial with enormous media impact and thus eliminate the risk of interference in prison. In the last hours, talks have taken place between the defense of the Colombian artist, through the criminal lawyer Pau Molins, and the accused (prosecution, public prosecutor, Generalitat) to seal an agreement in return for the recognition that one would clarify the facts and pay a fine worth millions , the request for a prison sentence would be significantly reduced. The agreement has not yet been finalized and the process is currently pending.
The possibility of an agreement was always on the table. There have been two failed attempts with the prosecution, but now, as the trial begins, Shakira appears ready to accept it, sources familiar with the case report. Assuming that the trial would take place, the artist would have to relive her years of life in Barcelona, as the statements of more than a hundred witnesses are intended to reconstruct her daily life in Spain between 2012 and 2014. According to the prosecution, he was already in Spain for tax purposes resident and would have had to pay his taxes. The State Ministry is now demanding a prison sentence of eight years and two months for six tax fraud offenses and the payment of a fine of 23.5 million.
Since the investigation began, Shakira has been torn between her desire to fight the allegations and the comfort of taking blame and minimizing risks. Previous attempts to reach a settlement with the allegations (which failed in the summers of 2022 and 2023) involved the recognition of facts and the payment of a fine, which allowed the prosecutor’s office to assess mitigating circumstances and reduce the criminal charge. For Shakira, it is definitely a risky move: she could take risks, fight and win, but that would not save her more than three weeks of public presence in a media trial that also means the memory of a stage, that of Barcelona. which he wants to leave behind after his romantic separation from former Barça defender Gerard Piqué.
Shakira has vehemently denied the allegations. He asserts that during the period of the crime he traveled from concert to concert for a year and only went to Barcelona occasionally and with the sole intention of being with Piqué. Even if the pact is finalized, the Barranquilla artist will have to be present this Monday at the Palace of Justice in Barcelona after spending a few days in Spain to attend the Latin Grammys in Seville (last Thursday). Monday was the day for his testimony; After the session, she was able to return to Miami, where she has been living with her children since the separation: the president of the court, José Manuel del Amo, has already indicated to her lawyer that he would excuse her from attending all the sessions due to her professional commitments. (12) of vision. If, as it seems, there is an agreement, you must speak but only say that you accept it.
“Everything is in the air”
“Everything is in limbo,” summarize sources close to the singer. The parties had prepared intensively for the trial as if it were going to take place, but never lost sight of the possibility of reaching an agreement, particularly the defense. The public prosecutor’s office has also always considered this option, which is very common in tax fraud proceedings, but was not prepared to go much further than the positions that it had already raised in the first pact attempt in 2022, which ended badly: the singer didn’t care. She convinced herself of the terms of the agreement and slammed the door on the prosecutor, whom he accused of “intransigence”; A few days later, the State Ministry presented its powerful indictment.
The second attempt at a settlement came this summer when Shakira changed lawyers and hired Pau Molins. The lawyer had won a similar case: the acquittal of former motorcycle racer Sito Pons, who was able to prove that he had lived outside Spain until 2014. The new approach to the prosecution was motivated primarily by Shakira’s new personal situation: separated from Piqué, she wanted to end her relationship with Barcelona and avoid a detailed account of her life in the city.
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