Prosecutors Seeking 8-Year Prison Sentence For Shakira in Tax Fraud Cause

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Spanish prosecutors declared their intent to seek a jail term of more than eight years against international music superstar Shakira on Friday after she rejected a plea deal for allegations of tax evasion in Spain.

The Colombian superstar has been accused of not paying taxes in Spain between 2012 and 2014, a time in which Shakira claims she did not live in the country.

Prosecutors in Barcelona will additionally demand a fine of nearly 24 million euros from Shakira for allegedly defrauding the Spanish tax office out of 14.5 million euros on income earned during the two-year period.

The indictment outlines six different charges against the singer. Since Shakira rejected the plea deal earlier this week offered by prosecutors, the tax fraud case will go to trial instead. A date for Shakira’s trial has not yet been set.

Shakira has maintained that she is innocent while insisting that the Spanish prosecutor’s office is violating her rights. She also said that she has paid the tax authorities a sum of 17.2 million euros, which she had owed and now has no outstanding debt.

The global superstar’s publicists said in a statement on Friday that she “has always cooperated and abided by the law,” adding that she demonstrates ” impeccable conduct as an individual and a taxpayer.”

The prosecutor’s document claims that the singer was often living in Spain during the time between 2012 and 2014. Shakira additionally purchased a house in Barcelona in May of 2012 that the document claims became a family home.

Earlier this year, Shakira attempted to get the charges dropped against her by appealing to a Barcelona court in May, however, the appeal was dismissed.

This legal development for Shakira comes only a month after she announced her split from her husband, FC Barcelona player Gerard Piqué. The two had been together since 2011 and share two children.