Spanish court shelves latest Shakira tax fraud investigation
A court in Spain said Thursday it has shelved a probe into another alleged tax fraud by Colombian pop star Shakira, putting an end to her legal woes in the country where she once lived.
Prosecutors had opened the case in July, accusing her of using a network of companies, some of them based in tax havens, to cheat the tax office out of 6.6 million euros ($7.09 million) in 2018, including interest and adjustments. A month later, the so-called Queen of Latin Pop paid 6.6 million euros to settle the debt.
But on Wednesday prosecutors recommended that the probe be dropped due to "insufficient evidence" and the court investigating the case agreed.
While the court said the "Hips Don't Lie" singer had committed "irregularities" in her 2018 tax return, it added that "irregularities are not enough to constitute a (criminal) offence against the tax authorities".
It added that Shakira did not have "the intent to defraud the tax authorities".
In a separate case, Shakira in November struck a last-minute settlement with prosecutors on the opening day of her trial over a separate tax fraud charge involving income she earned between 2012 and 2014.
In that case prosecutors had sought a jail sentence of over eight years for the singer. They accused her of defrauding the tax authorities of 14.5 million euros in a case that centred on how much time she was living in Spain.
Shakira denied the charges, saying she only moved to Spain full time in 2015.
(AFP)
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