Shakira may not be able to go wherever, whenever (because she’s facing prison time)
Shakira's tax evasion trial was officially approved by a Spanish judge; she faces up to 8 years
Aux News Shakira
Her hips don’t lie, but her checkbook might (sorry, we know we’ve already used this joke). This is, at least, according to Spanish prosecutors who accused the pop star of dodging taxes to the tune of €14.5 million back in 2018.
Last week, we reported that the singer was seeking to take her case to court rather than settle, telling ELLE that the prosecutors’ claims were “fictional” and accusing them of having “resorted to a salacious press campaign to try to sway people, and apply pressure in the media along with the threat of reputational damage in order to coerce settlement agreements.”
The trial was officially approved today by a Spanish judge, per AP News. According to the court, the singer will face six counts of tax fraud and could receive up to eight years in prison as well as a hefty fine if found guilty. A date for the trial has not yet been set.
As a reminder, this case largely comes down to a dispute about where the singer spent the majority of her time from 2012-2014, while she was married to Spanish soccer player Gerard Piqué. The Spanish government alleges that she spent over half of that period in their country and therefore owes them the €14.5 million, while Shakira’s camp asserts that she not only maintained her official residence in the Bahamas over the two years in question, but has also already paid everything she owes plus an additional €3 million in interest.
However, this writer doesn’t have to wonder—the singer actually spent this time “there over, hereunder,” based on the evidence from this 2001 hit. Just kidding; we’ll leave that to the court to decide. Should she have taken the (plea) deal, my dear? Only time will tell. (Sorry! It’s just. too. easy.)
22 Comments
The Spanish Gov is famous for this. She’ll pay the extortion and never see a courtroom, much less a jail cell I imagine.
didn’t they do much the same thing to Messi and/or Neymar (although having your non-accountant/non-lawyer father handle your finances like Messi did wasn’t smart either)?
A bunch of footballers.
https://www.football-espana.net/2019/12/19/explained-la-liga-stars-and-tax-issues
“Her hips don’t lie, but her checkbook might.”Eh, that’s ok, she said it herself first. People love to be quoted. Of course tax fraud is bad; particularly egregious for the wealthy. Does it deserve a carceral response? Trump’s money crimes certainly do, as do the predatory financial abuses that directly harm individuals (embezzlement, theft, extortion, etc). Cases can be complex and lines get very ‘fine’, but if she pays what she owes that should be sufficient. Maybe there should be a three strikes rule followed by prison time for tax evasion.
Check the other comments. Spain has a history of extorting the “rich, but not too rich” class. Soccer players and pop stars are fair game, but they wouldn’t try it with the truly wealthy.
Yeah I’m sort of undecided here, on the one hand rich people do evade taxes all the goddamn time (and the Panama Papers had quite a few star names), on the other Spain apparently has a history of this.
It’s (d)ifferent
She should really go to the court to try and get a gag order placed on her hips, before they jeopardize her whole case.
I hold your hips in contempt. The rest of your body is free to go.
She’s a genie in a bottle she’ll get outta this just fine!
That’s Christina Aguilera.
Hit me baby one more time!
Oops, you did it again.
That one is obviously Tom Waits
Obviously!
Her hips don’t lie, and neither do her financial statements.
She messed up tonight, started another fight
I think she’ll “try everything” to avoid going to jail.
Fuck, beaten to the Try Everything joke.
Come on, Uncle Kelbo. Do better!
Sounds like she’s crying (she)wolf!
Her fellow inmates may soon test the veracity of said hips…