The 46-year-old, who claims she only moved to Spain full-time in 2015, denies the accusations that she stole 14.5 million euros ($ 15.7 million ) from income earned between 2012 and 2014.
The case focuses on how much time the singer, whose hit singles” Hips Do n’t Lie,”” Whenever, Wherever,” and” Waka Waka,” a 2010 World Cup song, spent in Spain between 2012 and 2014.
Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll, also known as the Queen of Latin Pop, should have paid taxes in Spain because she spent more than half of that time there.
They claim she left Bermuda for Spain after her relationship with GerardPique, a former star player for FC Barcelona, was made public in 2011. However, she continued to hold official tax residency there until 2015.
The prosecution alleges in its indictment that Shakira “used a set of companies” based in tax havens” with the intention of not paying” tax in Spain.
The singer is requesting an eight years and two months in prison as well as a fine of almost 24 million euros ($ 24 million ).
According to Shakira’s attorneys, she lived a “nomadic life” up until 2014, made the majority of her money from international tours, and relocated permanently to Barcelona just before her second son was born in January 2015.
” Even before they filed a lawsuit, I paid everything they claimed I owed. In an interview that was published in Elle magazine in 2022, the singer stated that as of today, I owe them nothing.
After a ten-year relationship, Shakira announced her breakup with Pique in June 2022, putting an end to one of the most well-known celebrity couples in the world. With their two sons Milan and Sasha, she relocated to Miami in April.
At 10 am ( 0900 GMT ), her high-profile trial is scheduled to begin at a court in Barcelona. The court is expected to hear from nearly 120 witnesses during its anticipated duration of December 14.
The singer may ask the court for permission to skip the remaining hearings even though she is expected to testify during the trial’s opening session.
Given that Spanishprosecutors conducted a thorough investigation to support their case, it is likely that information about her private life will come to light during the proceedings.
To support their claim, they spoke with her neighbors, followed her social media accounts, looked up her hairdresser’s payments, and even visited the medical facility she visited while pregnant.
There have previously been concerns about Shakira’s finances.
The” Pandora Papers,” which revealed the wealth and tax avoidance strategies of the world’s wealthy, in her case relating to residence in the Bahamas, named the Latina superstar in one of largest financial document leaks ever in October 2021.
Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, two football stars, have been penalized by Spain in recent years for failing to pay their taxes on time.
Both players received prison sentences that were waived for first-time offenders after being found guilty of evasion.
Pique, Shakira’s ex-partner, was ordered to pay the tax office 2.1 million euros after being found guilty of tax fraud in 2016.
At the Latin Grammy Awards on Thursday in Seville, southern Spain, the singer won three prizes, including best pop song for her collaboration with DJ Bizarrap on “Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol.1″ and song of the year. 53.”
The song refers to being left with a “debt to the tax office” and swipes at her ex-partner Pique. On Spotify and YouTube, it has been played nearly 1.5 billion times.