Colombian pop star Shakira evaded 14.5 million euros ($15.74 million) in income tax while living in Spain between 2012 and 2014. Shakira faced a hearing in the court of Barcelona on Monday on this charge.
Reuters reported that the hearing of the case will continue until December 14. Shakira may be cross-examined in a total of 12 hearings during this period.
A three-member panel headed by Judge Jose Manuel del Amo Sanchez will hear Shakira’s tax evasion case. More than 100 people are expected to testify during the trial.
Shakira claims that she paid what she owed to the tax office before the tax evasion case was filed against her.
Shakira said she was not living in Spain at the time of tax evasion. For the next few years from 2012, he led a ‘nomadic life’.
Spanish prosecutors had previously made an offer to Shakira to settle the tax evasion charges. But when he refused, he was charged with tax evasion of 14.5 million euros.
Prosecutors have sought eight years in prison for violating the law in addition to demanding back taxes owed.
The lawsuit alleges that between 2012-14, Shakira spent more than half of the year in Spain. In May 2012, his family lived in a house he bought in Barcelona.
The pop star, who burst onto the scene with the 2010 World Cup theme song ‘Waka Waka’, has sold more than 80 million records worldwide, including hit albums such as ‘Hips Don’t Lie’.
Shakira ended her 12-year relationship with footballer Gerard Pique last year.
Shakira was at Pique’s Barcelona home before the split. A few days ago, he left that house and moved to the United States. She now lives in Miami with her two children.
Tags: Shakira court prosecutors years prison
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