Shakira adds a new problem in Spain: they open a second case against her for alleged fraud

A Spanish court opened a second case against the Colombian singer Shakira following a complaint by the Prosecutor’s Office accusing her of defrauding the State in personal income and property taxes for the 2018 financial year.

As reported this Thursday by the Supreme Court of Catalonia (TSJC), the case against the artist, which is being investigated by the investigative court number 2 of Esplugues de Llobregat (Barcelona), is open to two crimes against the public purse.

The details of the new accusation against Shakira

The singer will be judged from November 20 in the Court of Barcelona for alleged fraud 14.5 million euros ($16.2 million) between 2012 and 2014, in another case also filed by the Financial Crimes Prosecutor’s Office of Barcelona.

In this first open cause, The Prosecutor’s Office is asking for eight years and two months in prison, as well as his fine 23.8 million euros ($26.6 million).

This for six crimes of tax fraud and alleged tax evasion at the Spanish Ministry of Finance, despite the fact that, according to the public ministry, she had been residing in Spain since 2012 and had been obliged to pay taxes in that country since then.

In 2018, the fiscal year that led to the complaint, the Colombian artist had already taken up residence in Spain as a result his relationship with former footballer Gerard Piquefrom whom she separated last year, which led to the fact that in April they moved to live in Miami (United States) with their two children.

The Tax Service found other irregularities in the 2018 tax settlement and forwarded the case to the Prosecutor’s Office, since the amount it estimates to have been defrauded exceeds the quota 120 thousand euros ($134 thousand) of which tax fraud is considered a crime.

The new open case complicates the criminal scenario for the interpreter, who has already returned the 14.5 million euros that the Tax Office demanded plus three more interest, but rejected the agreement proposed by the Prosecutor’s Office to reduce his sentence in exchange for accepting the facts attributed to him.

Although the singer, who has always maintained her innocence, has decided to risk it at trial, she still has time to plead guilty to the charges – which also include the Ministry of Finance and the Catalan Tax Agency – by the time she sits in the dock. .

For now, the Barcelona court has set the start of the trial for November 20, which will last for another 11 sessions on November 22, 23, 28, 29 and 30 and on November 4, 5, 11, 12, 13 and 14 December.