Shakira Rejects Plea Deal in Tax Fraud Case, Faces Trial in Spain
Shakira is going to trial.
According to Billboard, the 45-year-old performer has rejected a plea deal from prosecutors to settle allegations she defraud Spain’s government of $15 million in taxes.
Shakira “trusts her innocence and chooses to leave the issue in the hands of the law,” her PR firm Llorente y Cuenca said in a statement.
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The case was first reported on in December 2018, when Spanish prosecutors charged her with failure to pay taxes on her 2012 to 2014 income. The singer denied any wrongdoing during her testimony in June 2019.
NBC News writes that prosecutors have said that they would ask a court to sentence Shakira to eight years and two months in prison if she is convicted, as well as issue her a fine of $24 million.
It was reported back in May that she had been denied an appeal in the case, upholding a ruling in which a judge said there was “sufficient evidence of criminality” for the case to go to trial.
Earlier this summer, Shakira confirmed that she had split from Gerard Pique after 11 years of dating. Find out what she said here.