A date has been set for Shakira’s trial for tax fraud in Spain
The trial in Spain against Colombian singer Shakira, for an alleged tax fraud of 14.5 million euros, is scheduled to begin in November.
Legal sources reported Thursday that a court in the city of Barcelona, where Shakira lived with her then partner Gerard Pique, has set November 20 as the date for the trial, scheduled for 12 sessions across November and December with some 200 witnesses.
However, the trial could be shortened if the artist, for whom the prosecution is asking for eight years and two months in prison and a fine of 23.8 million euros, reaches a last-minute agreement with the prosecution, the Public Prosecutor’s Office and the State Attorney’s Office, to accept a reduced sentence in exchange for acknowledging the fraud.
The reason why 12 sessions have been scheduled for the trial against Isabel Mebarak Shakira is the large number of witnesses proposed by the parties, with 100 witnesses proposed by the State Attorney’s Office, around 30 by the Prosecutor’s Office and 60 by the defence.
The judge has asked the parties whether it would be possible to reduce the number of witnesses, which the prosecution and defence are willing to consider in order to speed up the trial.
At the same time, he has proposed that Shakira, who lives in Miami (United States) after separating from the ex-footballer, attend only the session in which she is scheduled to testify and on the last day, in which the accused has the right to make a final plea.
The prosecution accuses her of crimes against the tax authorities for defrauding 14.5 million euros between 2012 and 2014 by pretending that she did not reside in Spain.
Her defence alleges that she did not establish her residence in Spain until 2014 and points out that since 2011 the singer has paid more than 104 million euros in taxes in different countries.
The Colombian artist rejected last June an offer from the Prosecutor’s Office to reach an agreement that would reduce the penalties and avoid the trial, which does not prevent her defence from continuing to negotiate a pact with the accusations in the coming months, which should be formalised in a brief trial in
Barcelona.
