Colombian singer, Shakira is facing a new multi-million pound tax fraud probe in Spain, a court said today.
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 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.
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.
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.