Shakira’s arrival in Spain not only means her triumph in music that led her to be invited to the Latin Grammy 2023, which will be held this Thursday, November 16, starting at 5:30 in the afternoon (Venezuela time), but who will also have to wait until Monday, November 20, to face the Spanish court due to the lawsuit he has had for several years in which he is accused of carrying out tax fraud against the Treasury of that country.
Allegedly, the Barranquilla woman defrauded the public entity of 14.5 million euros, and could put her in prison for eight years and two months, a verdict that her defense will seek to avoid during 12 sessions that will begin this Monday and end on December 14 in Barcelona. , where the singer has the option to declare or omit her version. It is normal that the defense prefers to reserve the accused’s statement for the end of the trial, so that when they intervene they can object to all the evidence presented.
In this new trial, 117 witnesses and eight experts are summoned who will answer the questions of the defense and the accusations of the Prosecutor’s Office, the State Attorney’s Office and that of the Generalit. Among the witnesses are some of the artist’s workers in the Spanish city, who served her in hairdressers, bars, beauty salons, hotels and restaurants. As well as her driver, two gynecologists, her Zumba and fitness teachers and also her stylist.
The interpreter’s neighbors in her former home in Catalonia, the doormen and maintenance workers will also have to attend the court. On the other hand, employees of the firm responsible for their work must also declare Live Nation Spain, and also the CEO of Sony Music in Latin America, Afo Verde, and the president of the company, Amanda Ghost, the latter at the request of Shak.
The voice of “Antología” also demanded that her brother and manager Tonino, her choreographer, therapist, hairdresser, stylist, managers, her producer and ex-partner Antonio de la Rúa, with whom she had a relationship before pairing up with the former Spanish soccer player, Gerard, testify. Pique.
Shakira is accused of allegedly committing six crimes against the Treasury between 2012 and 2014, and in addition to the prison sentence, the Prosecutor’s Office demands that the artist be fined 23.8 million euros. The taxes that she allegedly defrauded are the Personal Income Tax (IRPF) (12,371,197 euros) and the Wealth Tax (IP) (2,191,771), adding between the two of them 14,562,968 euros.
The prosecutor believes that, to avoid paying taxes in Spain, the artist used a network of 15 companies domiciled in the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, Malta, Panama and Luxembourg, which she named as owners of her income and assets instead. of putting them in his name, supposedly “to hide” his income from the State Tax Agency and the Tax Agency of Catalonia.
Before the criminal process, Shakira already returned 17.2 million euros that the Treasury claimed for taxes that she did not pay at the time, something that the Prosecutor’s Office’s accusation takes into account when applying a mitigating circumstance to repair the damage.
