Shakira, 46, defrauded Spanish treasury out of £5.75million, prosecutors claim as they ‘accuse her of using offshore tax havens’

Shakira has been accused of defrauding the Spanish treasury of £5.75 million by prosecutors who have asked a court to investigate her for new tax offences.

The 46-year-old singer-songwriter is due to stand trial on November 20 for six counts of tax fraud she allegedly committed in 2012, 2013 and 2014.

In July, it emerged for the first time that she was facing a new tax investigation into alleged irregularities in her 2018 tax returns.

A court near Barcelona said an investigation had been opened at the request of prosecutors.

Today, the amount of money they accuse her of defrauding as part of their new allegations against the Colombian mother of two was made public.

According to reports in Spain, prosecutors alleged she had failed to declare just over £13 million in income and claimed false deductions totaling around £5.5 million.

The respected Spanish daily El Mundo, one of several newspapers today providing more details about the prosecution’s allegations against Shakira, also reported that she was accused of using companies in offshore tax havens for the alleged tax fraud.

Prosecutors are said to have asked the investigating judge to summon her for questioning via video link from her new home in the United States.

Shakira faces a prison sentence of up to eight years if convicted of six charges of tax fraud totaling £12.6 million for which she will stand trial at a Barcelona court from November 20.

She has denied any wrongdoing and has insisted she will fight the allegations made against her in court rather than strike a last-minute deal with Spanish prosecutors.

The new tax investigation is being conducted by a judge from the court in Esplugues de Llobregat, the same court that launched the previous investigation that led to the artist going on trial later this year.

A spokesperson for the Supreme Court of Catalonia said in July: ‘Court of Instruction Number 2 in Esplugues de Llobregat has opened proceedings following a complaint filed by prosecutors against singer Shakira for two suspected tax crimes relating to income tax and wealth tax for the Spanish tax year 2018.’

Her legal advisors responded in a statement released at the time, saying, “Shakira has not received any formal notice of the plaintiff’s complaint which, according to media reports, was filed for the 2018 fiscal year.

“Once again, as has been the case in recent years, the singer learned of the filing of this lawsuit through the media, which is testament to the public and reputational pressure she is subjected to.

“The singer’s legal team will make no comment until notification reaches them through official and legally established channels.

‘As is publicly known, and as the Spanish Ministry of Finance has been officially informed, Shakira now lives in Miami, so she must be personally informed at her new address, in strict accordance with the provisions of the law.

“As she has repeatedly stated, Shakira defends that she has always acted in accordance with the law and on the advice of the best tax experts.

“She is now focusing on her life as an artist in Miami and is confident that a favorable resolution will be found to her tax problems.”

Before leaving Barcelona for Miami in early April following her acrimonious split from former footballer Gerard Pique, Shakira launched a sharp attack on Spain’s tax authorities after it emerged she would face trial over alleged crimes committed between 2012 and 2014.

She claimed she was being “persecuted” and accused Spain’s finance ministry of using “unacceptable methods to damage her reputation and force her to reach a settlement agreement.”

She insisted she had no intention of taking a last-minute plea deal and going to trial.

A spokesperson for the Colombian artist also made it clear that she felt the country’s tax authorities accused her of lying about her stay outside Spain “without evidence” during the years she was accused of tax fraud.

Shakira, previously a tax resident of the Bahamas, only registered as a full-time tax resident of Spain in 2015, despite starting dating her ex Gerard Pique five years earlier.

People who spend more than 183 days in Spain in a given calendar year are considered Spanish residents for tax purposes.

Spanish tax inspectors reportedly spent more than a year checking on Shakira, even visiting her favorite hairdressers in Barcelona and monitoring her social media to try to show that she has spent most of the three years in dispute in Spain spent.

They claimed she spent 242 days in Spain in 2012, 212 days in 2013 and 243 days in the country in 2014, before charging her with tax fraud six times over those three years.

A statement issued by Shakira’s Barcelona-based publicist LLYC last November and authorized by Shakira said: ‘Shakira is a taxpayer who has always demonstrated impeccable tax conduct and has never had tax problems in any other jurisdiction.

‘The singer called on top advisors such as PriceWaterhouseCoopers.

‘She has never exceeded the 183 days of presence in Spain required to be a tax resident.

“Without solid evidence to support the charges against her, she has been heavily persecuted in the criminal sphere and in the media, using unacceptable methods to damage her reputation and force her to reach a plea agreement.”

November 20 is scheduled as the date for the start of Shakira’s tax trial, which will take place over 12 sessions. The last day of the public hearing would be December 14, as the court will not meet on some days.

Wealth tax in Spain is an annual tax payable on the total net value of assets held as of December 31. Spanish tax residents pay taxes on their worldwide assets.