Performer Shakira answers questions at a press conference on January 30, 2020 in Miami. David J. Phillip/The Associated Press
A Spanish prosecutor is seeking an eight-year prison sentence for Colombian superstar Shakira over a 14.5 million euro tax fraud case, a prosecutor’s office document showed on Friday.
The singer, who has sold more than 80 million records worldwide with hits like “Hips Don’t Lie,” earlier this week rejected a settlement offer from prosecutors to drop the case.
He is accused of not paying taxes between 2012 and 2014, a period in which Shakira says he did not live in Spain.
The prosecution document, seen by Reuters, states that Shakira habitually resided in Spain between 2012 and 2014 and in May 2012 bought a house in Barcelona which became a family home for her, her partner and his son born in Spain in 2013.
She asked for an eight-year prison sentence and a fine of more than 23 million euros ($23.5 million) if found guilty. A trial date has not yet been set.
Asked for comment, Shakira’s representatives referred to a previous statement sent Wednesday saying she is “fully confident of her innocence” and considers the case “a total violation of her rights.”
Terms of the previous settlement offer were not disclosed.
The 45-year-old singer, dubbed the queen of Latin pop, said she initially paid the €17.2 million the tax office said she owed and claims she has no outstanding debt with the administration tax
The latest news in the fiscal case comes a month after Shakira and her husband, FC Barcelona defender Gerard Piqué, announced their separation. Shakira, 45, and Piqué, 35, have been together since 2011 and have two children.
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