In A Tax Fraud Case, Spanish Prosecutors To Seek An Eight-year Prison Sentence For Shakira

On Friday, prosecutors in Spain said they would ask a judge to put Colombian pop star Shakira in jail for eight years and two months if she is found guilty of tax fraud in her upcoming trial.

Shakira, whose full name is Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll, is accused of not paying 14.5 million euros ($15 million) in taxes to the Spanish government between 2012 and 2014. The prosecutors also said that they would try to get a fine of 24 million euros ($24 million) from the court.

Shakira is charged with six things in the indictment. This week, the singer turned down a settlement offer from prosecutors and chose to go to court instead. A date for the trial hasn’t been set yet.

In a statement released Friday, her publicists in London said that Shakira “has always worked with the law and obeyed it, showing that she is a good person and a good taxpayer.” The Spanish Tax Agency was accused of going against her rights by the publicists.

Shakira’s Spanish public relations team said earlier this week that the singer has paid what she is said to owe, including 3 million euros in interest.

Prosecutors in Barcelona say that between 2012 and 2014, the Grammy winner spent more than half of each year in Spain and should have paid taxes there.

Shakira just broke up with Gerard Piqué, a star player for FC Barcelona, with whom she had been together for 11 years and has two children. Before, the family lived in Barcelona.