Shakira slams Spanish tax official as she agrees deal to prevent £12.5m tax fraud: Singer says: ‘Winning means getting my time back for my children who don’t want their mother to sacrifice her well-being in this fight’

Colombian singer Shakira has reached a deal with Spanish authorities to avoid a £12.5 million tax fraud case.

The global superstar arrived at a courthouse in Barcelona on Monday to attend the first day of her trial for allegedly defrauding the Spanish state of 14.5 million euros (£12.5 million) on income earned between 2012 and 2014.

Wearing a pink suit and sunglasses, the 46-year-old entered the building just before 10 a.m. (0900 GMT) without speaking to the crowd of reporters waiting for her arrival, an AFP journalist at the scene said. .

But it was soon announced that she had reached a settlement, with Shakira (full name Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll) telling the chairman that she had accepted the agreement with the prosecutors.

In a statement released shortly afterwards, she said she made the decision to “spare my children if their mother sacrificed her well-being.”

“I greatly admire those who fought these injustices to the end, but for me, winning today means getting back time for my children and my career,” she said.

But in her statement she also slammed Spanish authorities for pursuing her, saying her case was similar to others in which authorities went after “athletes and other high-profile individuals.” Such cases, she said, “drain those people’s energy, time and peace of mind for years.”

As part of the deal ending the trial, the prosecutor changed the singer’s prison sentence to fines, the judge said during the trial’s first hearing.

The court announced it has imposed a fine of 7.3 million euros (£6.4 million).

In a statement released by her representatives, the singer said: “Throughout my career, I have always strived to do the right thing and set a positive example for others.

‘That often means going the extra mile when making business and personal financial decisions to get the absolute best advice, including seeking advice from the world’s leading tax authorities, PricewaterhouseCoopers International Limited and Ernst & Young Global Limited, who my advisors during this entire process.

“Unfortunately, and despite these efforts, the tax authorities in Spain have pursued a case against me, as they have against many professional athletes and other high-profile individuals, taking away these people’s energy, time and peace of mind for years.

“While I was determined to defend my innocence in a trial that my lawyers were confident would have ruled in my favor, I have made the decision to finally resolve this case with the best interests of my children at heart, who don’t want to see their children. My mother is sacrificing her personal well-being in this fight,” she added.

“I need to put the stress and emotional toll of the past few years behind me and focus on the things I love: my children and all the opportunities that will come in my career, including my upcoming world tour and my new album, both of which I have. I’m extremely excited about it. I greatly admire those who fought these injustices to the end, but for me, winning today means getting back time for my children and my career.”

The case focused on the amount of time the singer, whose hit singles ‘Hips Don’t Lie’, ‘Whenever, Wherever’ and the 2010 World Cup song ‘Waka Waka’, spent in Spain between 2012 and 2014.

Spanish authorities claimed that Shakira – dubbed the Queen of Latin Pop – had spent more than half of that period in Spain and should therefore have paid taxes in the country.

They said she moved to Spain after her relationship with former FC Barcelona star defender Gerard Pique became public in 2011, but maintained an official tax residency in the Bahamas until 2015.

In the indictment, the prosecutor alleged that Shakira used “a series of companies” based in tax havens “with the intention of not paying taxes” in Spain.

Shakira was named in the ‘Paradise Papers’ leaks which detailed the offshore tax schemes of numerous high-profile individuals, including musical celebrities such as Madonna and U2’s Bono.

Shakira’s defense team, Barcelona-based firm Molins Defensa Penal, said in November 2022 that she had spent no more than 60 days a year in the country during the period in question, adding that she spent half the year in the country country should have spent. in Spain to be considered tax resident.

Her defense argued that she led a “nomadic life” away from Barcelona for a long time during a world tour in 2011 and then spent a lot of time in the United States as part of a jury for the NBC television talent show The Voice.

Shakira’s lawyers said she only moved permanently to Barcelona just before the birth of her second son in January 2015.

“I paid everything they said I owed, even before they filed a lawsuit. So as of today, I don’t owe them anything,” she told Elle magazine in 2022.

Spanish prosecutors disagreed, and the investigating judge, Marco Juberías, wrote in 2021 at the end of the three-year investigation into the allegations that he felt there was “sufficient evidence of criminality” to take the case to trial to bring.

Shakira defended her innocence when questioned by Juberías in 2019.

She lost an appeal last year to have the case dismissed.

Prosecutors had demanded a prison sentence of eight years and two months and a fine of almost 24 million euros against the singer.

However, the settlement changed the prison sentence to fines.

Shakira had rejected a deal offered to her by prosecutors to settle her case in July 2022, saying through her Spanish PR agency Llorente y Cuenca that she “believes in her innocence and chooses to leave the matter to the law . .’

The details of that potential deal have not been made public.

Shakira announced her divorce from Pique in June 2022 after a decade-long relationship, ending what had been one of the world’s most famous celebrity couples. She moved to Miami in April with their two sons, Milan and Sasha.

Her high-profile trial was expected to last until December 14, with the court expected to hear from almost 120 witnesses.

Spain has cracked down on football stars such as Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo over the past decade for failing to pay their tax debts in full.

The former Barcelona and Real Madrid stars were found guilty of evasion, but both avoided jail time after their sentences were suspended.

Shakira, whose full name is Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll, has two children, Milan and Sasha, with Barcelona footballer Gerard Pique.

The couple lived together in Barcelona before ending their 11-year relationship last year. She has lived in Miami ever since.

After winning the Latin Grammy Awards gala in Seville on Thursday, Shakira thanked her fans in Spain for “being there in good times and bad.”