Shakira will sit on the dock. A judge in Esplugues de Llobregat ordered the case and sent the Colombian singer to court on six tax charges tied to alleged personal income tax and wealth tax evasions between 2012 and 2014. This Tuesday’s ruling is final and cannot be appealed.
In her indictment, Prosecutor Carmen Martín Aragon seeks eight years and a month in prison and a total fine of 23.8 million euros for the alleged defraudation of Shakira, also known as Isabel Mebarak Ripoll, during the same period. The evidence suggests the artist from Barranquilla settled a debt with the Treasury and adjusted her standing with the Tax Office by paying thousands more in taxes. As a result, the prosecutor applies a high-quality damage repair mitigation method, which reduces the overall criminal claim.
At first, talks were held between the singer’s defense and the prosecution to reach an agreement. The public indictment even proposed reducing her prison sentence—heavy due to the number of crimes attributed to her—while also offering a fine. In the end, negotiations did not produce an agreement, and the Colombian singer declined any deals. Despite this refusal, a settlement could still materialize shortly before Shakira’s undated oral hearing.
institutional framework
The prosecution maintains that Shakira committed six tax crimes by failing to pay income and wealth taxes in 2012, 2013, and 2014, offenses that could carry sentences ranging from one year to one year and six months in prison. The indictment alleges the artist defrauded a network of companies with connections to tax havens and pretended to live abroad while residing in Barcelona with footballer Gerard Piqué, with whom she has since parted ways. — Source: Esplugues de Llobregat court
Shakira, according to the prosecutor, regularly lived between 2012 and 2014 first in a Barcelona residence and later in a home in Esplugues de Llobregat, acquired through a company associated with her partner Gerard Piqué. The singer spent periods outside Spain for professional reasons, including a brief spell in the United States where she participated in La Voz. — Source: Esplugues de Llobregat court
The public accusation notes that she was in the country for most of the time and exceeded the 183 days that typically define habitual residency for tax purposes. The dossier claims she indeed spent 242 days in 2012, 212 days in 2013, and 243 days in 2014 in Spain. Tax regulations classify such absenteeism as habitual residence only when it fails to meet certain thresholds, a point on which the defense counters that the calculations are inaccurate. — Source: Esplugues de Llobregat court