2023-11-22 20:23:49
Colombian pop star Shakira has reached a settlement worth 14.5 million euros, equivalent to 15.7 million US dollars, with prosecutors to avoid being tried in Barcelona on charges of tax evasion in Spain between 2012 and 2014.
As part of the agreement, Shakira agreed to the charges and to pay a fine equal to 50 percent of the amount owed, or more than 7.3 million euros, according to Archyde.com.
She also agreed to pay another fine of 438,000 euros to avoid a three-year prison sentence, the judge said during the first hearing.
The singer previously pledged that she would fight what she described as false accusations, and Shakira also has another pending investigation with the Spanish authorities regarding tax evasion.
Colombian singer Shakira
The Public Prosecution Office sought an eight-year prison sentence and a refund of the taxes it says it owes.
The singer, who lives with her two children in Miami, since her separation from Gerard Pique, a former Barcelona and Spanish national team player, confirmed in a statement, “I had two options: to continue fighting until the end, and to put my peace of mind and the peace of my children at risk, and to stop producing songs, albums and tours, or close this chapter.” From my life and leaving him behind.
Judge Jose Manuel del Amo Sanchez asked, “Do you realize the facts and agree to the new penalties that were requested?” Shakira answered, “Yes.”
Spanish taxes and the prosecution of Messi and his family
Football star Lionel Messi
The Spanish judiciary sentenced Argentine football star and former Barcelona player Lionel Messi in 2017 to 21 months in prison for tax evasion, but the court later in the same year replaced the decision with a fine of 252,000 euros.
Messi, who won the Ballon d’Or for the best player in the world eight times, most recently in 2023, and his father, Jorge, were accused in July 2016 of tax evasion worth 4.16 million euros. In May 2017, the Supreme Court rejected an appeal submitted by the player, installing a prison sentence and a fine of 2.1 million. euro.
The prison sentence was suspended, as is usually the case in Spain when the sentence is less than two years, and the judicial record of the two men was cleaned.
Then the Supreme Court reduced the prison sentence for Messi’s father from 21 months to 15 months, and his fine from 1.6 million euros to 1.3 million euros, considering that the five million euros that the player and his father voluntarily paid to the Spanish tax authority in 2013 constituted a mitigating factor.
In its final decision, the Barcelona court decided that because of this amount, “the two (Messi and his father) deserve to replace the prison sentence with a fine.”
It was expected that the Spanish judiciary would take the decision to replace the prison sentence with a fine, because the Public Prosecution in Barcelona announced on June 23 that it did not oppose this step, and the Public Prosecution spokeswoman indicated at the time that the latter was ready to replace each day of imprisonment with 400 euros, an option that was… The player’s lawyers have also suggested it.
Messi and his father were accused of creating shell companies in the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Belize and Uruguay without informing the tax authorities.
Between 2007 and 2009, Messi signed contracts with Adidas, Pepsi and Danone, but not on a personal level, using fake companies instead. The star confirmed that he was focusing on football and was ignorant of contracts and the way his wealth was managed, in an argument that did not convince the judiciary. Who faces a series of similar issues with other footballers.
Portuguese star Ronaldo and the tax battle
Portuguese player Cristiano Ronaldo
Following in the footsteps of his rival Messi, the Criminal Court in Madrid accused Portuguese football star Cristiano Ronaldo of tax evasion amounting to 14.7 million euros by creating a fictitious business structure to hide his profits in the period from 2011 to 2014.
Then a settlement was reached between Ronaldo’s defense team and the Spanish financial authorities, with the Portuguese star paying 18.8 million euros on charges of evading taxes. Without it, Ronaldo would have faced the possibility of imposing a much harsher fine of up to 28 million euros and a three-and-a-half-year prison sentence, according to the union. Specialists in the Ministry of Finance.
After the court sentenced him to two years in prison, it replaced its ruling in 2019 with a financial penalty of 3.2 million euros.
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