Pop star Shakira could face eight years in jail if found guilty of an alleged tax fraud

Shakira could go to jail for EIGHT YEARS and have to pay a £19MILLION fine because she cheated the government out of £12M in taxes. The singer turned down an out-of-court deal and denies any wrongdoing.

Shakira, a popular singer, has been warned that she faces a possible prison sentence of up to eight years if she is proven guilty of an alleged tax fraud involving £12 million.

The 45-year-old singer is accused of six charges of cheating the government between 2012 and 2014, and Spanish prosecutors have also requested a £19 million fine for him.

It comes after the mother of two, who was born in Colombia, turned down an out-of-court deal that would have had her admit wrongdoing.

She has already reimbursed the money that she is supposed to owe the treasury, in addition to the interest, which is rumoured to total three million pounds.

The accusations were included in an indictment that was handed over to the investigating court close to Barcelona by the prosecutors. The indictment was made public for the very first time today.

It is alleged that Shakira, whose full name is Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll, evaded taxes by making it appear as though she lived in another country and by employing a convoluted offshore corporate structure.

It is alleged that she participated in the unlawful arrangement between the years 2012 and 2014, during which time she was in a relationship with the player Gerard Pique, who resides in Barcelona and plays for the Barcelona team.

In the beginning of this year, the couple, who are parents to two children together, went their separate ways when it was reported in the local media that Pique had been unfaithful.

Pique is rumoured to have turned down Shakira’s attempts to restart their relationship on two separate occasions before the couple publicly acknowledged that they had ended their partnership.

Despite the fact that they are no longer together, it appears like the exes are able to coexist amicably since they have been seen attending their children’s sporting events together.

Shakira, who had been a tax resident of the Bahamas in the past, did not register as a full tax resident in Spain until the year 2015.

The tax authorities spent almost a year investigating Shakira’s whereabouts, going so far as to visit her preferred hairdresser in Barcelona and reviewing her social media in an effort to prove that she spent the majority of the three years at issue in Spain.

The investigation led them to the conclusion that she had spent 242 days in Spain in 2012, 212 days in 2013, and 243 days in Spain in 2014.

It was alleged in the report that was given by the prosecution along with their criminal complaint that the time she spent outside of Spain was “sporadic absences” due to business commitments.

Shakira has stated that she is innocent of any wrongdoing.