Pop singer Shakira to face trial over tax fraud in Spain
The Spanish newspaper AS is reporting that Shakira, the Spanish singer-songwriter, has been accused of tax fraud in Madrid, Spain. According to the news report, the former star-turned-billionaire has received a one-year prison sentence for tax fraud, but faces up to a 10-year suspended sentence. She reportedly admitted that her band’s 2003 album, “Eternia”, contained a large amount of unpaid royalties to artists who had used songs from the album for other albums.
In order to prevent a repeat of her previous tax case, which ended with a 10-month prison sentence, the judge gave her a month for the prison sentence, a 2-year suspended sentence and ordered her to pay 1 million euros in back taxes. If she fails to pay the sum, the judge is to turn her over to the authorities to be jailed. She is currently in New York where she is performing a concert at Terminal 5 and the concert will stop at midnight.
In court last week, the judge demanded that she pay the money and the case was dismissed. However, she was released from jail on Monday and reportedly remains in the city of Madrid, where she had been on a long-term bail.
During the trial, the judge said that she, “showed that she was entitled to the money, because she made it with the help of other artists and other people.”
So, while the case goes on now, Ms. Shakira is now living in Spain and the country is having a tax problem.
The judge said that the “Eternia” album is just not worth anything, yet if it was then it would not have been allowed into the country.
The judge said that the court could order a refund of over 1 million euros and Ms. Shakira could apply for compensation from her