Prosecutor Asks for Shakira to be Hit With an 8-Year Jail Term For Tax Fraud
These appear to be trying times for Columbian singer, Shakira as the Barcelona Public Prosecutor’s Office has asked the judge to hand her a jail sentence of 8 years and one month in prison for tax fraud.
The prosecutor’s decision comes after Shakira failed to reach an agreement to avoid trial, as the singer remains confident of her innocence, as reported by Marca.
A few days ago, it was revealed that the Barcelona Prosecutor’s Office and the legal team representing Shakira had held intense negotiations to avoid trial for tax fraud of 14.5 million euros between 2012 and 2014.
Shakira believes that she has already paid her debt and insists that she paid 17m euros due to the interest imposed by the tax authorities.
Therefore, after several attempts to avoid a trial in Barcelona, prosecutor Carmen Martin Aragon applied the highly qualified mitigation of damage repair, which means that Shakira’s punishment could be reduced.
Meanwhile, the prosecutor considers that Shakira committed six offences of tax fraud after failing to pay the corresponding income and wealth taxes in 2012, 2013 and 2014, for which prosecution can request sentences of between one year and one year and six months.
In Martin Aragon’s argument, she explains that Pique’s ex-partner used a corporate structure and wanted the Tax Agency to believe that she was living abroad when, at the time, she was staying in Barcelona.
