New Shakira multi-million pound tax fraud probe is launched in Spain – where the singer is already set to face trial over separate £12.5m allegations
- Singer is facing probe over alleged fraud on 2018 income and value-added taxes
- READ MORE: Shakira is ordered to stand trial in Spain over ‘£13million tax fraud’
Shakira is facing a new multi-million pound tax fraud probe in Spain, a court said today, which comes as she already faces trial over separate allegations.
The ‘Hips Don’t Lie’ singer, 46, is expected to stand trial towards the end of the year in another case relating to over 14.5 million euros (£12.5 million) in back taxes owed between 2012 and 2014.
In that case, the prosecutor is seeking up to an eight-year prison term against the star, whose full name is Shakira Isabel Mebarak.
Shakira, who has been romantically linked to F1 driver Lewis Hamilton in recent weeks, has denied any wrongdoing and insisted she will fight the accusations levied against her in court instead of seeking a last-minute deal with Spanish state prosecutors.
The new probe, relating to the tax year 2018, will be conducted by a judge at a court in Esplugues de Llobregat, the same to have launched the earlier investigation which resulted in the artist being ordered to stand trial.
Shakira is facing a probe over alleged fraud on income and value-added taxes in 2018
There has not yet been any official comment from the mum-of-two, who was recently pictured watching Carlos Alcaraz play in the semi-final of Wimbledon
Officials today confirmed the reports, which will put Shakira under the spotlight once again.
A spokesman for Catalonia’s High Court of Justice said: ‘Court of Instruction Number 2 in Esplugues de Llobregat has opened a procedure following a complaint presented by prosecutors against the singer Shakira for two suspected tax crimes related to income tax and wealth tax for the Spanish tax year of 2018.’
There has not yet been any official comment from the mum-of-two, who was recently pictured at watching Carlos Alcaraz play in the semi-final of Wimbledon.
The prosecutor did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the new case. Shakira’s legal team said they would comment later in the day.
Before leaving Barcelona for Miami at the start of April, Shakira delivered a stinging attack on Spanish tax authorities after it emerged she would be put on trial over the alleged offences committed between 2012 and 2014.
She claimed she was being ‘persecuted’ and accused the Spanish Treasury of using ‘unacceptable methods to damage her reputation and force her to come to a settlement agreement.’
She insisted she had no intention of making any last-minute plea bargain deals and would go to trial.
A spokesman for the Colombian artist also made it clear she felt the country’s tax authorities were accusing her of lying about residing outside of Spain ‘without evidence’ for the years she had been charged with tax fraud.
Shakira, previously tax resident in the Bahamas, only registered as a full-time tax resident in Spain in 2015 despite starting to date her ex Gerard Pique five years earlier
Shakira, previously tax resident in the Bahamas, only registered as a full-time tax resident in Spain in 2015 despite starting to date her ex Gerard Pique five years earlier.
People who spend more than 183 days in a given calendar year in Spain are considered Spanish residents for tax purposes.
Spanish tax inspectors reportedly spent more than a year checking up on Shakira, even visiting her favourite hairdressers in Barcelona and checking her social media to try to show she spent most of the three years in dispute in Spain.
They concluded she had spent 242 days in Spain in 2012, 212 days in 2013 and 243 days in the country in 2014 before indicting her with six counts of tax fraud for those three years.
A statement released by Shakira’s Barcelona-based publicists LLYC last November and authorised by Shakira said: ‘Shakira is a taxpayer who has always shown impeccable tax conduct and has never had tax problems in any other jurisdiction.
‘The singer relied on top advisors such as PriceWaterhouseCoopers.
‘She never exceeded the 183 days of presence in Spain required to be a tax resident.
‘With no solid evidence to support the charges against her, she has been fiercely persecuted in the criminal and media spheres using unacceptable methods to damage her reputation and force her to come to a settlement agreement.’
November 20 has been scheduled as the date for the beginning of Shakira’s tax trial, to take place over 12 sessions.
The last day of open court would be December 14 as court will not sit some days.
The wealth tax in Spain is an annual tax payable on the total net value of your assets held on December 31.
Spanish tax residents pay tax on their worldwide assets.
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