Shakira ‘hidden’ income through a network of shell companies
The Public Ministry of Barcelona, Spain, asked this Friday, 29, for more than eight years in prison and a fine of about 24 million euros (about R$ 125 million) for the Colombian singer. Shakira (artistic name of Isabel Mebarak Ripoll) accused of defrauding 14.5 million euros (about R$76 million) from the Spanish Treasury between 2012 and 2014.
The request was filed this Friday, July 29, after the singer had refused a settlement with the Public Ministry on Wednesday, July 27, and intends to go to trial to evaluate the charges. However, the singer’s lawyers do not rule out the possibility of a settlement until the opening of the eventual trial, which will be held in Barcelona.
The Public Prosecutor accuses Shakira of having used shell companies, created years earlier to avoid paying taxes in Spain in 2012, 2013 and 2014, despite already residing in the country for more than the 183 days per year stipulated by law.
The accusation was first registered in 2018 and prosecutors tried to prove, through social media posts and commercial vouchers, that she had a fixed residence in the country.
“With the full conviction of his innocence (…) Shakira does not accept agreement” with the Public Ministry and “decides to proceed” with the process, said its legal representatives in a note in Barcelona, where the singer lives, who was confident that “justice will prove that she is right”.
Denouncing “a total violation of their rights”, Shakira stated in a note that “the Public Ministry insists on collecting the money earned in [suas] international tours and ‘The Voice’the American television program on which she was a judge, in the period when she was “not yet a resident of Spain”.
Shakira does not recognize debt
After receiving the accusation for the first time, in 2018, the singer recalled having paid 17.2 million euros (R$ 90 million) that the Treasury claimed and, therefore, considers that “there is no outstanding debt”.
According to the complaint, however, Shakira is Colombian and supposedly moved to Spain with her husband and football player, Gerard Pique, in 2011, despite maintaining his permanent tax residency in Nassau (Bahamas) until 2015, which was later deemed a tax haven by the Pandora Papers.
Shakira appeared in the so-called Pandora Papers, an extensive investigation of millions of leaked documents published in 2021 by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalistswhich accused hundreds of personalities of having resorted to tax havens, mainly to escape the Treasury.
Source: Rollingstone
Camila Luna is a writer at Gossipify, where she covers the latest movies and television series. With a passion for all things entertainment, Camila brings her unique perspective to her writing and offers readers an inside look at the industry. Camila is a graduate from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) with a degree in English and is also a avid movie watcher.
