Shakira faces more than eight years in jail as she's charged with new offences
Emily Brown
Featured Image Credit: John Nacion / Contributor/Axelle/Bauer-Griffin / Contributor
Pop star Shakira is facing more than eight years behind bars after being charged with new offences.
Spanish prosecutors announced the charges today (26 September) after the singer was previously accused last year of defrauding the Spanish tax office out of €14.5 million ($15.3 million) on the income she earned between between 2012 and 2014.
Shakira, whose full name is Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll, is due to be tried in Barcelona on 20 November in relation to those accusations, but she's now been charged for a second time as prosecutors claim she failed to pay €6.7 million ($7.1 million) in tax on her 2018 income.
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Spanish tax officials opened the latest case against Shakira in July, and decided to bring charges after gathering evidence over the last two months.
In a statement about the charges, Barcelona prosecutors said the 'Wherever, Whenever' singer was accused of using an offshore company based in a tax haven to avoid paying the tax.
Shakira, who now lives in Miami, Florida, has been notified of the charges, the statement added.
The public relations firm that previously has handled Shakira’s affairs, Llorente y Cuenca, made no immediate comment, though it previously claimed Shakira had 'always acted in concordance with the law and on the advice of her financial advisers'.
No date has been set for a trial related to the new charges.
When Shakira first faced charges last year, prosecutors in Barcelona alleged the Grammy winner spent more than half of the 2012-14 period in Spain and therefore should have paid taxes in the country, even though her official residence was in the Bahamas.
The singer has been linked to Spain since she started dating the now-retired football player Gerard Pique 11 years ago.
Shakira and Pique share two children together and lived together in Barcelona until last year, when they decided to go their separate ways.
The charges come as tax authorities in Spain continue to crack down on taxes.
Over the past decade, authorities have focused their attention on football stars such as Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo for not paying their full due in taxes.
Both famous football players were found guilty of tax evasion, but they managed to avoid prison time thanks to a provision that allows a judge to waive sentences under two years in length for first-time offenders.
Shakira is facing an eight-year prison sentence plus a large fine if she is found guilty at her trial for the initial charges, meaning she could face a greater punishment as a result of the newly added charges.