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Shakira could face up to eight years behind bars for allegedly defrauding Spain's government, based on new documents from a Spanish prosecutor's office.
The Colombian musician is accused of failing to pay 14.5 million euros (or $15 million) in taxes on income earned between 2012 and 2014, per Reuters. While Shakira claims she did not live in Spain during that time, the prosecutor alleges she was a resident at the time, even buying a home in Barcelona with her partner in May 2012. According to her representatives, Shakira has paid the amount owed to the Spanish Tax Agency — 17.2 million euros — and has no pending tax debts.
Shakira was originally charged in 2018, but could now face time in prison and a hefty fine. On Friday (July 29), documents revealed that a prosecutor is seeking the years-long prison term for the "Hips Don't Lie" singer as well as a fine of more than $23.5 million if she were to be found guilty during a trial. A date for the trail has not been determined.
The suggested prison term comes days after the 45-year-old musician rejected a plea deal that prosecutors offered to settle the case and instead opted to go to trial, per Billboard. In a statement from Shakira's PR firm Llorente y Cuenca, the singer "trusts her innocence and chooses to leave the issue in the hands of the law."