Shakira Cleared in Multi-Million Dollar Spanish Tax Fraud Case
Spain’s High Court has acquitted Colombian singer Shakira of tax fraud following an eight-year legal battle. The singer was initially accused of tax evasion by the Spanish government in 2018.
Prosecutors had requested an eight-year prison sentence. The case centered on whether Shakira met the requirement of spending 183 days in Spain during the 2011 tax year, which would establish residency and tax liability.
The court determined Shakira spent 163 days in Spain during that year. The country’s tax agency has indicated it will appeal the decision and will not issue any reimbursements until a final ruling is made.
The court has directed the treasury to return more than $64 million to Shakira, representing taxes and interest that were improperly collected.
Shakira stated: “After more than eight years of enduring brutal public targeting, orchestrated campaigns to destroy my reputation, and sleepless nights that ultimately impacted my health and my family’s well-being, the National High Court has finally set the record straight. There was never any fraud, and the Administration itself could never prove otherwise, simply because it wasn’t true.”
She continued: “Yet, for nearly a decade, I was treated as guilty. Every step of the process was leaked, distorted, and amplified, using my name and public image to send a threatening message to the rest of the taxpayers.”
Shakira concluded: “Today, that narrative crumbles, and it does so with the full force of a court ruling. My greatest wish is that this ruling sets a precedent for the Treasury and serves the thousands of ordinary citizens who are abused and crushed every day by a system that presumes their guilt and forces them to prove their innocence at the cost of economic and emotional ruin. This victory is dedicated to them.”
