Shakira Faces Fresh Court Charges Over Alleged Tax Fraud
A Spanish judge in Esplugues de Llobregat, Barcelona, has issued an order for a second investigation against Colombian singer Shakira, accusing her of tax fraud.
According to VOA1, Judge Marco Jesús Juberías initiated the investigation based on the argument that Shakira’s residence in Spain for over 200 days between 2012 and 2014 makes her liable to pay $16.2 million in unpaid taxes in the country.
Judge Juberías alleged that Shakira’s financial advisor used a network of offshore bank accounts to conceal her sources of income during those years.
Shakira’s legal team, on the other hand, continues to assert her innocence and remains “calm and confident in a favourable resolution to her tax affairs.”
The 46-year-old singer, Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll, is said to have evaded tax payments in Spain during the period when she resided in the country with her partner, Gérard Piqué, and their family.
Despite her claims that her primary residence was in the Bahamas during that time and she was touring internationally, the judge ruled that there is sufficient evidence of criminal activity to proceed with charges of tax fraud against Shakira.
