Spanish investigation into Shakira’s alleged tax evasion dropped | Shakira

A Spanish court has dropped an investigation into alleged tax fraud by Colombian pop star Shakira, putting an end to her legal troubles in the country where she once lived.

Prosecutors opened the case in July, alleging she used a network of companies, some in tax havens, to defraud the tax office of €6.6 million (£5.7 million) in 2018.

A month later, the singer paid 6.6 million euros to clear the debt.

Prosecutors on Wednesday called for the criminal case to be dropped due to a “lack of evidence,” and a day later the court agreed.

Although Shakira had committed “irregularities” in her 2018 tax return, the court said that this was “not sufficient to constitute a (criminal) offense against the tax authorities” and that no “intent to defraud” could be found in her conduct.

Pau Molins, one of her defense lawyers, welcomed the decision, saying it “put an end to the tax authorities’ smear campaign against Shakira” and “proves that there was never any fraudulent behavior on the part of the singer.” He added that his client was “completely convinced that (the court) recognized that she did not commit criminal fraud.”

The decision means Shakira only has one outstanding administrative case to resolve, which concerns her income from 2011, when she said she had spent “a maximum of 70 days in Spain… not even half the minimum to be considered a tax resident.” her legal team.

The court ruling came six months after Shakira settled a previous tax fraud case and reached a last-minute agreement with prosecutors on the opening day of her trial in November over income she earned between 2012 and 2014.

In this case, prosecutors had asked for a prison sentence of more than eight years.

They accused her of defrauding tax authorities of €14.5 million in a case involving how long she had lived in Spain. Shakira denied the allegations and said she only moved to Spain full-time in 2015.

By the time the case came to court, she had already paid 17.45 million euros to settle her outstanding tax debts, according to prosecutors.

This trial was concluded on the day of its opening after the singer agreed to pay a fine of almost 7.8 euros. The trial was expected to last three weeks and hear from around 120 witnesses.

At the time, Shakira said she was settling down “for the best interest of my children” because she needed to “leave behind the stress and emotional burden of the last few years” and focus on her career.

Shakira, 47, now lives in Miami, USA, with her two sons after splitting from Barcelona footballer Gerard Piqué. He was convicted of tax fraud in 2016 and ordered to pay 2.1 million euros in fines and arrears. His conviction was overturned by Spain’s Supreme Court in 2021.

Spain has cracked down on celebrities in recent years over unpaid taxes, including soccer stars such as Argentina’s Lionel Messi and Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo.

Both players were found guilty of evasion and received prison sentences waived for first-time offenders.