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TAX FRAUD

Prosecutors in Spain call for eight-year sentence for Shakira

Prosecutors in Barcelona said Friday that they would seek a prison sentence of more than eight years against global music superstar Shakira, after she rejected a plea deal on accusations of tax evasion.

Published: 29 July 2022 11:23 CEST

shakira tax spain

Shakira's defence team argues she moved to Spain full time only in 2015 and has met all tax obligations. (Photo by Roy Rochlin / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)

Prosecutors are demanding a fine of nearly €24 million on the 45-year-old “Hips don’t Lie” songstress, who is accused of defrauding the Spanish tax office out of €14.5 million ($14.7 million) on income earned between 2012 and 2014.

The court will now need to decide on holding a trial and set a date.

Prosecutors say Shakira moved to Spain in 2011 when her relationship with FC Barcelona defender Gerard Piqué became public but maintained official tax residency in the Bahamas until 2015.

Shakira has slammed the “complete violation of her rights” and “abusive methods” by the prosecutors and say they were “insisting on claiming money earned during my international tours and the show ‘The Voice'” on which she was a judge in the United States, when she was “not yet resident in Spain”.

READ MORE: Shakira rejects plea deal to prove tax fraud innocence in Spanish court

Shakira was on the singing competition show between 2013 and 2014.

Shakira’s defence team argues she moved to Spain full time only in 2015 and has met all tax obligations.

She says she has paid €17.2 million to the Spanish tax authorities and she has “no debt to the treasury for many years”.

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Dutch gang leader vanishes in Spain after accidental release

Karim Bouyakhrichan was arrested in January in Marbella, an upmarket tourist resort on Spain’s southern coast, along with five other members of the Mocro Maffia gang.

They are suspected of having bought 172 properties in Spain worth over €50 million ($53.5 million) to launder their gains from drug trafficking.

But the following month a court in the southern city of Málaga decided to grant him provisional release with judicial supervision, against the wishes of public prosecutors and the Spanish government. Judicial sources said Tuesday his whereabouts are now unknown.

“It is worrying news,” Justice Félix Bolaños told a news conference following a weekly cabinet meeting when asked about the case.

“I can’t comment on any court decisions, but I do trust that the state security forces will bring this person to justice as soon as possible,” he added.

The Málaga court said in its ruling granting Bouyakhrichan provisional release that the risk that he would flee could be avoided “with other less burdensome security measures” than pre-trial detention.

It imposed bail of €50,000, took away his passport and ordered him to report to the authorities twice a month.

Dutch extradition bid

At the same time Spain’s top criminal court was processing a request for Bouyakhrichan’s extradition to the Netherlands, where he is wanted for large-scale drug trafficking.

But it postponed its extradition proceedings because the Málaga court intended to put Bouyakhrichan on trial first for money laundering, court sources told AFP.

When the Netherlands provided more information to back its extradition request, the top court summoned him to testify and when he failed to appear a fresh warrant for his arrest was issued.

Vincent Veenman, a spokesman at the Dutch public prosecutor’s office in The Hague, said it was “unknown” to them why Bouyakhrichan had not been detained for extradition.

“We are currently awaiting a decision on the extradition request,” he added.

“Our experience with the Spanish justice system is that this cooperation is generally good. Dozens of suspects are handed over every year.”

Bouyakhrichan’s brother Samir, another leading member of the Mocro Maffia, was murdered in 2014 near Marbella, sparking a reorganisation of organised crime groups in the region.

The Mocro Maffia made international headlines in 2022 after it emerged that Dutch Crown Princess Amalia had been placed under heavy protection in response to fears of an attack by the group.

Dutch media reported earlier last week that the 20-year-old heir to the Dutch throne studied in Madrid after being forced to ditch plans to live in student accommodation in Amsterdam because of the threats.

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