Shakira settles $15M Spanish tax fraud battle to ‘focus’ on her kids and career – LSB

Shakira She reached a settlement with Spanish prosecutors after being accused of failing to pay more than 14.5 million euros (equivalent to about $15.8 million) in taxes between 2012 and 2014.

According to a report on Monday, November 20 AP NewsShakira (46 years old) reached an agreement with the Spanish government to avoid a prison sentence. When asked to admit to her six counts of tax fraud, the singer answered “yes.”

Shakira will receive a three-year suspended prison sentence and must pay a fine of 7 million euros ($7.6 million) each. AP News.

“I have made the decision to finally resolve this matter with the best interest of my children who do not want to see their mother sacrifice her personal safety in this fight,” Shakira said in a statement on Monday. “I need to move past the stress and emotional loss of the past several years and focus on the things I love, my children, and all the opportunities I have in my career. I deeply admire those who fought this injustice to the end, but for me, today, winning is getting my time back for my children and my career.”

Related: Inside Shakira’s tax evasion battle

Sticky situation. Shakira has been caught in the middle of a heated battle with Spanish authorities over allegations that she failed to pay nearly $14 million in taxes. In 2018, prosecutors in the European country accused the “Hips Don’t Lie” singer of withholding 14.5 million euros in taxes between 2012 and 2014. […]

“Throughout my career, I have always sought to do what is right and be a positive role model for others,” Shakira added, denouncing the Spanish tax authorities who, she claimed, “pursued a case against me as they have done against many professional athletes and other high-profile individuals, draining my energy.” These people and their time and peace for years at a time.

In 2018, Spanish prosecutors accused Shakira of defrauding the government, alleging that she claimed to live in the Bahamas when she was actually residing in Catalonia, meaning she would owe money to the Spanish government.

Shakira’s representative previously described the allegations as a “complete violation of her rights” in a statement issued in July 2022 to ReutersPointing out that Shakira will trust “her innocence and… [choosing] “Leave the matter in the hands of the law.”

Shakira went on to address the lawsuit directly during an interview with deer In September 2022, denying these accusations.

“I didn’t spend 183 days a year [in Spain] “Absolutely at that time,” she said at the time. “I’ve been busy fulfilling my professional obligations around the world. Second, I’ve paid everything they claimed I owed, even before they filed a lawsuit. So, as of today, I don’t owe them anything.”

Related: Timeline of Shakira and Gerard Piqué’s relationship: As they were

As it was. Shakira and footballer Gerard Piqué were together for 12 years before announcing their final split. “[Gerard is] With me because he wants to be with Shakira the person and not the celebrity,” Shakira, who was first linked to the professional athlete in 2011, told Latina magazine in 2014. “There is true love, there is no […]

Her denial came shortly after Shakira and her old friend Gerrard Pique – with whom she shares sons Milan, 10, and Sasha, 8 – split in June 2022 after 12 years together. During the same deer In the interview, she referred to her breakup and legal drama as some of the “most difficult and darkest hours” of her life.

“It was difficult not only for me, but for my children as well,” she said. deer on time. “Incredibly difficult.”

Although Shakira settled a tax evasion case with the Spanish government, she was recently accused in a second lawsuit. Authorities in Barcelona claimed in September that they had failed to pay 6.7 million euros ($7.1 million) in 2018, using offshore companies in tax havens to avoid paying. (The case was opened in July.)