Shakira, a pop artist, has been cautioned that if she is found guilty of a purported £12 million tax scam, she may spend up to eight years in prison.
The 45-year-old singer is accused of six charges of cheating the government between 2012 and 2014, and Spanish prosecutors are also seeking a £19 million punishment for him.
It happens after the mother-of-two, who was born in Colombia, turned down an amicable solution that required her to confess to wrongdoing.
The money she reportedly owes the government, combined with interest estimated to be worth £3 million, has already been paid back.
The accusations were made public today for the first time in an indictment that prosecutors sent to the investigating court close to Barcelona.
Shakira, whose full name is Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll, is charged with employing an intricate offshore business structure and feigning a foreign residence in order to evade taxes.
She is suspected of employing the illicit arrangement between 2012 and 2014, while she was dating Barcelona-based player Gerard Pique.
The pair, who have 2 kids, divorced earlier this year after Pique was accused of being disloyal by local media.
Before the two announced their split, Shakira is claimed to have made two attempts to restart the romance but was rejected by Pique.
Despite their separation, the couple appears to have maintained their amicable relationship and has been spotted together at their kids’ sporting events.
Shakira has always complied and abided by the law, exhibiting excellent behaviour as a person and a taxpayer, and dutifully followed the advice of PriceWaterhouseCoopers, a famous and well-known tax firm, a spokesperson for the singer said.
Sadly, the Spanish Tax Office persists to breach her rights and seek yet another pointless action despite the fact that it consistently loses litigation with its citizens.
Shakira is convinced that at the conclusion of the legal procedure, her innocence will be confirmed.
Shakira, who had previously registered as a full tax resident in the Bahamas, did so only in 2015.
On their global income, official citizens of Spain pay Spanish taxes.
For taxation reasons, those who spend more than 183 days in Spain within a particular calendar year are regarded as Spanish residents.
Shakira was the subject of a year-long investigation by tax authorities, who even paid a visit to her favorite Barcelona hair salon and looked through her social media to attempt to prove that she spent the majority of the three years at issue there.
They came to the conclusion that she had been in Spain for 242 days in 2012, 212 days in 2013, and 243 days in 2014.
There is no definite date for the trial, and some observers believe a last-minute agreement might yet be reached before Shakira is called to testify.
After 11 years of marriage, the player and singer Pique announced their separation in May amid unverified rumors of infidelity.
Shakira wants to move to Miami with them, thus the ex-couple is claimed to have spent the previous several weeks debating the future of their two kids.
