BARCELONA, Spain (CelebrityAccess) — Colombian singer and philanthropist Shakira has been called to appear in a Spanish court on charges of tax evasion, according to Spanish media sources.
The Hips Don’t Lie singer officially changed her residence in 2015 from the Bahamas to Barcelona, where she lives with her partner, Barca soccer player Gerard Piqué, and their two sons. However, prosecutors alleged her official move date was cosmetic and said she had been living in Barcelona since 2012, making her a resident of Spain with tax obligations.
In their indictment, Spanish prosecutors also allege that Shakira concealed her income through 14 companies in tax heavens.
Shakira was one of the public figures who appeared in the Paradise Papers, a set of more than 14 million confidential financial documents detailing offshore investments that were leaked to German newspapers and made public in 2017.
Since then, the documents are being investigated by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, and a network of more than 380 journalists, and continue to generate news.
According to the papers, Shakira was listed as a resident of the Bahamas despite living in Barcelona. The papers revealed that Shakira also appeared to have relocated her intellectual property rights and brands to a company based in Malta, a tiny Mediterranean island that is reputed to be a tax haven.
Spanish newspaper El Periódico reported that Shakira has already €14.5m to settle the alleged tax debt but has been called to testify on the matter on June 12 at a court in Esplugues de Llobregat, Barcelona.
