Shakira faces trial for tax fraud in Catalonia

Shakira has refused an agreement with the public prosecutor’s office to avoid a trial for tax fraud, accusing the Treasury of "persecution" and assuring that she will continue with the judicial process. 

The Court of Barcelona confirmed the prosecution of the Colombian singer for allegedly defrauding the Treasury by 14.5 million euros between the years 2012 and 2014 when Shakira says she wasn't residing in Spain.

“Only minimal efforts have been done to prove her permanence for a period of days, but nowhere near to what the law requires to be considered as a resident since the singer traveled abroad many times for work,” claimed her legal team.

The singer who lives in Barcelona ​​has explained in a statement that the case is a "total violation of her rights."

Shakira said that "the prosecutor's office has taken charge of collecting money from international tours and from 'The Voice', the famed American singing reality TV series competition broadcast on NBC, where the singer works as a host. 

Shakira and her ex-partner, the Barça footballer Gerard Piqué, already paid around 17.2 million euros to the Treasury with the hopes of regularising her fiscal situation. “Therefore, there has been no outstanding debt with the Treasury for many years,” explained the legal team.

The trial

The magistrates have rejected the singer's request to dismiss the case, considering that there is sufficient evidence to determine that in those years Shakira lived stably in Catalonia, after pairing up with Gerard Piqué. 

The investigating judge of Esplugues de Llobregat believes she could be guilty of six tax-related crimes.

The court claims that Shakira was a "habitual resident" in Spain and it is not sufficiently proven that she lived in another country. According to them, she spent 243 days in Spain between 2012 and 2013 and 244 in 2014. Therefore, the state considers the 123 days she spent out of the territory as “sporadic absences.”