A Spanish court in Barcelona has said it has shelved a probe into alleged tax fraud by Colombian pop star Shakira following a request from public prosecutors, according to widespread media reports citing new agency AFP.
The case opened in July, accusing her of using a network of companies, some of them based in tax havens, to cheat the tax office out of €6.6m in 2018, including interest and adjustments.
A month later, she paid €6.6m to settle the debt.
On 20 November last year, Shakira reached a last-minute settlement with prosecutors on the opening day of her trial over a separate alleged tax fraud case involving income she earned between 2012 and 2014.
Prosecutors on 8 May asked for the criminal case to be dropped over “a lack of evidence” and a day later, the court agreed.
While Shakira had committed “irregularities” in her 2018 tax return, the court said that was “not enough to constitute a [criminal] offence against the tax authorities” and that it found no “intent to defraud” in her conduct.
The Guardian in its report quoted Pau Molins, one of her defence lawyers, welcomed the decision, saying it had “put an end to the smear campaign waged by the tax authorities” against Shakira and “proves there was never any fraudulent behaviour on the part of the singer”. His client was “completely satisfied that [the court] had acknowledged she had not committed any criminal fraud”, he added.
The decision means Shakira has only one outstanding administrative case to resolve concerning her income from 2011, when she had spent “a maximum of 70 days in Spain … not even half the minimum to be considered a tax resident”, her legal team said.
