Shakira facing call for 8-year jail term by Spain prosecutor
Her hips might be lying after all.
Spanish prosecutors want to throw Colombian superstar Shakira behind bars for eight years if she’s found guilty of stiffing the country of millions of dollars in taxes, Reuters reported.
The “Hips Don’t Lie” crooner has been in the throes of a legal battle for allegedly failing to pay $14.7 million in taxes when she lived in Spain between 2012 and 2014, a time Shakira claims she did not live in the country.
Earlier this week, the Queen of Latin Pop, 45, rejected a plea deal from prosecutors and said she would take her chances at trial because she “trusts her innocence and chooses to leave the issue in the hands of the law,” the PR firm Llorente y Cuenca said in a statement.
Prosecutors insist Shakira did live in the country during that time and said she bought a home in Barcelona in May 2012. They said she lived there with her estranged partner Gerard Piqué and their son, who was born in Spain in 2013, according to a document reviewed by Reuters.
At the time, Shakira’s official residence was in the Bahamas but prosecutors claim she spent most of her time in Spain.
If prosecutors prove their case at trial, they want Shakira to spend eight years behind bars – and pay a $23.5 million fine, the document states.
The “Whenever, Wherever” singer, who’s sold more than 80 million records worldwide, has repeatedly maintained her innocence and said she previously paid a $17.5 million debt to the Spanish tax office and doesn’t owe them anything else.
When asked for comment, representatives for the superstar pointed to a previous statement released Wednesday that said she “is fully confident of her innocence” and thinks the case is “a total violation of her rights.”
Last month, Shakira made headlines when she announced she’d be splitting from Piqué after 11 years together.
Prior to that, she went viral after she and her son were attacked by wild boars at a Barcelona park and claimed one of them made off with her purse.
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