The Colombian singer Shakira was able to avoid a trial in Spain for tax fraud on Monday and received a million-dollar fine. This means she avoids a prison sentence, which, as she assured, she accepts in order not to harm her children.
“My children asked me, I made this decision for them”said the artist during his appearance in a court in the Spanish city of Barcelona. Shortly afterwards, the artist left the building without making a statement.
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The penalty is approx 7.8 million euros, after previously paying a further 17.5 millionthe 14.5 plus three additional interest received to the Spanish treasury between 2012 and 2014.
“I had two options: to continue fighting to the end, to mortgage my peace of mind and that of my children, to stop producing songs, albums and tours without being able to enjoy my career and the things I like, or one “To make an agreement, to close” and leave this chapter of my life behind me with anticipation,” said the singer, who has been living in Miami since April.
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What were you accused of and what does this agreement mean? Here is the alphabet of the case.
(The Latest: “My Kids Asked Me”: Shakira Explains Why She Accepted a Fine and Penalty from the Treasury.)
The accusation: Where did Shakira live?
The accusations made by the Public Prosecutor’s Office, the Public Prosecutor’s Office and the Catalan Region pointed to Shakira did not pay taxes in Spain in 2012, 2013 and 2014, despite staying in the country for longer than the 183 days required by law.
That is, she was accused of defrauding the Treasury during those years by pretending to live outside Spain.
The ministry then requested that the Colombian singer be sentenced to eight years and two months in prison and a fine of 23.8 million euros.
Shakira, 46, lived with former Spanish FC Barcelona footballer and current businessman Gerard Piqué, 36, for twelve years until they announced their separation in 2022 and she moved to Miami in the US with her two children following an agreement over their custody .
(Also read: Video: Shakira’s reaction after receiving a fine for tax fraud in Spain)
For her part, the singer defended that she had not committed any wrongdoing since, although she started a relationship with Piqué in 2011, Due to her international career, she led a nomadic life and her tax residence was in the Bahamas until early 2015..
“The tax authorities saw that she was with a Spanish citizen and started drooling,” she said in an interview with Elle magazine last year.
To prove her alleged origins in Barcelona, the Spanish Ministry of Finance conducted a thorough investigation, interviewing neighbors, following her pictures on social networks, checking her relatives’ expenses in the city, checking her payments at the hairdresser or even at the clinic. where she monitored her pregnancy.
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Why doesn’t he go to prison?
Shakira arrived at the court in Barcelona this Monday, to great anticipation from the media, accompanied by her lawyers and several police officers.
Wearing sunglasses and a pink suit, she entered through the main entrance, while on the opposite sidewalk, behind the police fences, about a hundred people waited for her, most of them journalists and photographers, but also curious people and a few admirers whom they demanded “justice for Shakira.”
The pact she made with the Spanish judiciary on Monday prevented her from being tried, but in exchange for this fine and a three-year prison sentence, which she does not have to serve for, among other things, the following reasons: the court applies a mitigating measure to repair the damage.
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Much less than the request he faced, since the prosecution asked for eight years and two months in prison plus a fine of 23.7 million euros, which is half of the 14.5 million people defrauded, that is, 7.3 million, plus another 432,000 euros With a rate of 400 per day he avoids spending behind bars.
Her lawyers agreed at the last minute with the public prosecutor’s office and the private allegations, the tax authority of the Spanish state and the regional government of Catalonia, so that the singer only had to agree to the verdict during a short appearance in court.
Are Shakira’s legal troubles over?
No. However, this Monday’s agreement does not mean the end of all problems in Spain The Spanish public prosecutor’s office filed another complaint against him for alleged tax evasion amounting to around six million euros for the 2018 financial year. He also has administrative proceedings at the Ministry of Finance relating to 2011..
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But if the trial had taken place, part of the life of this global star would have come to light, which in 2021 also appeared in the so-called Pandora Papers, the journalistic investigation that pointed out hundreds of personalities for allegedly having sought refuge in tax havens.
The tax authorities saw that she was dating a Spanish citizen and started drooling.
Regarding the 2011 case, the singer herself pointed out that it had already cost her 60 million euros due to “disproportionate fines”. “And all because I visited Spain in the middle of a tour of more than 120 concerts around the world to see the person with whom I started a relationship,” the artist explained on Monday.
The wear and tear on her and her children
While she was speaking a few brief words to the court in Barcelona to ratify the agreement, her communications agency released a statement in which Shakira once referred to the state treasury in Spain.
The artist not only addresses the concerns of her children, but in this way also avoids the “tiredness” of a long criminal procedure for “a singer of international prestige” with the resulting “media impact”.
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Although she was willing to defend her “innocence,” she chose to do so rather than fight “to the end.” Look “forward” without your children having to see you on the bench.
“I have to choose my battles and the most important thing for me now is to do everything so that my children have a fulfilling life and can focus on what is really important: watching them grow up and spending time with them,” emphasizes the explanation.
Ultimately, Shakira regrets the loss of time, image and money involved.
Shakira isn’t the only one
Shakira’s case is just one of many in which the Spanish Ministry of Finance is targeting Spanish and foreign celebrities.
Others like the Portuguese footballer Cristiano Ronaldo or the Argentinian Leo Messi Like Shakira, they preferred to pay heavy fines. But some went to the end and won, like the Spanish coach and former footballer recently Xavi Alonso after a long argument in court.
INTERNATIONAL EDITORIAL
*With information from EFE and AFP