After she rejects plea deal for tax evasion. Spanish prosecutors seek eight-year jail term for Shakira

After she rejected a plea agreement over allegations of tax evasion, Spanish prosecutors have stated that they will pursue a jail term of more than eight years against international music diva Shakira.

The Hips don't Lie singer, 45, was also ordered to pay a fine of about 24 million euros (more than $35 million) by Barcelona prosecutors on Friday. They accuse her of scamming the Spanish tax authority out of 14.5 million euros in revenue from 2012 to 2014.

Shakira, whose records have sold more than 60 million copies worldwide, rejected a plea agreement on Wednesday, declaring in a statement sent by her lawyers that she was "completely certain of her innocence" and had opted to go to trial, "certain" that her innocence would be proven. 

Neither a trial date nor a formal referral to court has been announced as of yet.

One of the greatest names in music prior to the start of any trial, according to Shakira's counsel.

The prosecution claims that Shakira moved to Spain in 2011, following the public revelation of her relationship with FC Barcelona defender Gerard Pique, but she continued to file her taxes in the Bahamas up until 2015.

The two children that the couple had together announced their separation in June.

The actress criticized the prosecutor's office on Wednesday for using "abusive techniques" and "completely violating her rights."

She said that prosecutors "insisted on seeking money earned during my international tours and the show 'The Voice,' on which I served as a judge in the United States," when she was "not yet resident in Spain."

Between 2013 and 2014, Shakira appeared on the singing competition program.

Her attorneys claim that up until 2014, she mostly made her money from overseas tours, only permanently relocated to Spain in 2015, and has complied with all tax requirements.

She asserts that she has paid the Spanish government 17.2 million euros in taxes and hasn't owing the Treasury anything in "many years" of time.

A court in Barcelona rejected the singer's bid to have the charges dismissed in May.

In October 2021, the Pandora Papers, one of the biggest financial document dumps ever, included Shakira among famous people with connections to offshore holdings.

With songs like Hips don't Lie, Whenever, Wherever, and Waka Waka, the official song of the 2010 World Cup, Shakira, a three-time Grammy winner, combined Latin and Arabic rhythms with rock elements to reach significant global success.

2022 - The year of challenges!

Days after her estranged husband Gerard Pique was seen partying with an unidentified woman in Stockholm, Shakira appeared despondent as she climbed into her car.

The pop sensation and the Barcelona defender, who are co-parents of two children, have announced the breakup of their 11-year union.

The couple, who are parents to Sasha, 7, and Milan, 9, announced their separation in a joint statement.

"Because the safety of our children is our top priority right now, we kindly request your respect for their privacy. I sincerely appreciate your consideration and respect."

According to El Periodico, a Spanish news source, the pair had been living apart for a few weeks after the pop diva kicked Piqué out of the house.

According to sources, Piqué recently moved into a bachelor apartment where he purportedly lives a "party lifestyle" while also hanging out with his colleagues.

When a Swedish fan blogged about a party the player had visited in Stockholm on Friday night, a social media video featuring her separated spouse Gerard went viral.

The mom allegedly referred to the Barcelona defender as "a loser" after the athlete allegedly declined to shake hands with her football-obsessed kid.

Katrin Zytomierska criticized Gerard in front of the public, alleging that fame had corrupted him. She further uploaded a picture of him with his new female friend.

The relationship

On the set of the "Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)" music video in 2010, the pair first got to know one another. In the music video for the song, which served as the official anthem for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, several football players appeared, notably Gerard Piqué of Spain. Shakira noticed the defense for FC Barcelona.

Shakira said to 60 Minutes in 2020 that she didn't know who he was since she didn't follow soccer. I initially thought the video was sort of nice, but then someone wanted to introduce us.

Piqué expressed his admiration for the two of them to Spain's TV3 in 2016.

It all began when I wrote to her when we were traveling together in South Africa, he claimed. "I questioned her about the weather because she was already there from singing in the opening ceremony. It's a classic foolish inquiry, and the typical response is to advise me to pack a jacket because it's winter in South Africa during the summer. It got to the point where I told her we [the Spanish squad] would have to reach the World Cup final in order to see her again since she was singing at the final that she was informing me what the weather was like every minute."

After Spain won the 2010 World Cup, the pair made their relationship official in 2011. They later welcomed two boys, Milan and Sasha, into the world.

Several High-Profile Tax Evasion Cases in the US

The IRS has always struggled with tax evasion and other related offenses. Federal and state governments lose hundreds of billions of dollars a year due to tax fraud. Over the past ten years, tax evasion is thought to have cost $3.09 trillion in total. The government has continuously taken steps to prevent tax evasion since the IRS was established, working to narrow loopholes and enforcing fines against tax violators. Discover the IRS's history, the history of taxes in the US, and the different objections to taxation.

Tax avoidance, on the other hand, is the capacity to lower your taxes using legal ways. Tax evasion is an unlawful method of not paying taxes. This page exclusively discusses tax evasion and includes actual instances of this crime.

- Lil Wayne, a rapper, has three different tax liens against him: $1.13 million paid in December 2010 for tax years 2004, 2005, and 2007; $5.6 million paid in 2011 for tax years 2008 and 2009; and $7.72 million paid at the end of 2012 for tax years 2008 and 2009. He has paid the IRS his tax burden as of the year 2019.

 - Nelly, a rapper, and owes the IRS more than $2.4 million. Though his followers attempt to pay off his debt by streaming his music online, the IRS is exploring an alternative: using the revenue from his most recent tour to settle the bill.

- On October 8, 2015, the IRS issued a tax lien against singer-rapper Trey Songz for unpaid taxes on his 2013 income. On October 28, he paid the IRS $750,000 to settle his obligation of $748,870.08.

- H. Ty Warner, the man behind the well-known Beanie Babies plush toys from the 1990s, admitted in January 2014 to defrauding the government of $25 million through the use of Swiss bank accounts, although he was spared jail time. The judge showed Warner some tolerance because of his charitable work and donations. He consented to a two-year probationary period, 500 hours of volunteer work, and $27 million in interest and back taxes. He also consented to pay a $53 million civil penalty.

- In May 2013, Grammy-winning singer Lauryn Hill was found guilty of omitting to pay over $1 million in taxes. After serving her three-month term at a federal prison in Connecticut, she was freed in October 2013. The singer apparently struggled to pay her taxes because she was not performing at the time.

- Dionne Warwick, a legendary R&B performer, declared bankruptcy in 2013 following a protracted legal dispute with the IRS over a $10 million tax obligation that dates back to 1991.

- O.J. Simpson, a former NFL player, has run into trouble multiple times. He was charged with murder, cleared, and then held responsible in a civil lawsuit. He received a 33-year jail term in 2008 for robbing and kidnapping a sports memorabilia merchant. Additionally, the IRS claims that he hasn't made a tax payment since 2007, and he currently owes close to $180,000. Early in 2013, the IRS issued a second lien for $17,015.99 in 2011 income taxes.

- Due to her outstanding tax bill, the IRS confiscated Lindsay Lohan's bank accounts. Fortunately, she was able to pay off her 2009 debt with a $100,000 cheque actor Charlie Sheen sent to her, and the IRS was able to release her from a tax lien in 2012. Although her company manager allegedly stated that he is working on a settlement to pay off the six figure total, debts from 2010 and 2011 still exist.

- A successful boxer with a history of tax issues, Floyd Mayweather Jr., received a $5.6 million bill from the IRS in 2009 for unpaid taxes. Since then, he has promised to compensate them.

- On the $24 million he made in 2007, actor Nicolas Cage failed to pay $6.2 million in taxes. He insisted that his accountant was in error. In order to get the cash necessary to repay the IRS, he ultimately had to sell a number of his homes, a castle, and comic books.

- Wesley Snipes, an actor who starred in several movies in the 1990s and the early 2000s, skipped out on paying taxes from 1999 to 2004. He tried to claim that he was a resident alien in the United States (he failed to realize that they have to pay taxes too). Due to the IRS's natural rejection of his claim since he was born in Florida, he was given a sentence of three years in jail. He was able to flee on bail after the IRS twice rejected his offer in compromise to pay 4 percent of his debt, or around $850,000, but he still owes the IRS $23.5 million in taxes.