Singer Shakira to face trial in Spain over tax fraud
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New Delhi: Pop singer Shakira will have to face trial on charges of tax fraud in Spain where she moved in 2015.
A Spanish judge approved the trial after she was accused in 2018 of failing to pay 14.5 million taxes on income earned between 2012 and 2014.
Shakira who denied any wrong doing earlier told the Spanish version of Elle magazine that she had enough proof to support her case and hoped that justice would prevail in her favour.
Prosecutors expects her to get eight-year prison term as well as a hefty fine if found guilty.
Shakira's public relations firm said she had already paid whatever she owed plus an additional 3 million euros in interest, according to Associated Press.
According to the court in Barcelona, Shakira is facing six counts of tax fraud in the case which hinges on where she lived during 2012-14.
The prosecutors demand that she should have paid taxes in the country as she spent more than half of that period in Spain, though her official residence was in the Bahamas.
Shakira's lawyers argue that she met all tax obligations after moving to Spain full-time in 2015 but she earned most of her money from international tours before 2014.
The Colombian singer dated Spanish soccer player Gerard Pique thus ending up in Spain. The couple broke up recently ending their 11-year relationship.