© REUTERS
A Spanish court decided on Thursday not to prosecute Colombian pop star Shakira in a tax fraud case. This brings the curtain down on Shakira’s legal worries in Spain, where she lived for years as the then wife of ex-footballer Gerard Piqué.
A court in the town of Esplugues de Llobregat near Barcelona ruled on Thursday that there were “not sufficient indications” that Shakira had deliberately withheld information when filing her income and wealth tax returns in 2018. A day earlier, the public prosecutor’s office had also concluded that there was not enough evidence to prosecute the singer.
The investigation was opened in July. Shakira was suspected of having concealed around 6.6 million euros in taxes owed for 2018 through a network of companies in tax havens. A month later, the pop star came forward with that amount, which also included late payment interest and administrative costs.
This puts an end to Shakira’s legal troubles in Spain. Last year, the singer paid more than 17 million euros in another procedure to avoid a trial in Barcelona. She was accused of failing to pay around 14.5 million euros in income tax between 2012 and 2014.
Shakira, the singer of, among others, “Hips don’t lie”, sold millions of records worldwide. She divorced Piqué in 2022 and has since lived in Miami with her children.
