A court near Barcelona, Spain confirmed it has opened an investigation into a second case of alleged tax fraud by international pop star Shakira.
A complaint from the Prosecutor’s Office accuses the Colombian artist of defrauding the Tax Agency in personal income taxes and assets for the 2018 financial year.
At the time, Shakira was residing in Barcelona with her ex-partner and retired soccer player Gerard Piqué and her two sons. She is now living in Miami with her children after the couple ended their 11-year relationship.
As of Thursday morning, the singer “had not received any formal notification of the Prosecutor’s complaint,” a Shakira spokesperson stated in an email to NBC News.
Her legal team “will not make any comments until the notification reaches them through the official and legally established channels,” the spokesperson said. “She must be notified personally at her new address, in strict accordance with the provisions of the Law.”
Shakira is already set to face trial at a date yet to be determined for allegedly failing to pay 14.5 million euros ($13.9 million) in taxes on income earned from 2012 to 2014. The entertainer has denied any wrongdoing.
Now, a Spanish judge has agreed with state prosecutors to probe possible tax fraud by Shakira from 2018.
The court said it had no information on how much money was in question as it was waiting for the singer to be officially notified, the Spanish newspaper El País reported.
“Shakira defends having always acted in accordance with the law and under the advice of the best tax experts. She is now focused on her life as an artist in Miami and is confident that there will be a favorable resolution of her tax issues,” Shakira’s spokesperson stated.
Both cases are being handled by a court in the town of Esplugues de Llobregat, near Barcelona.
The first case that is set to go to trial hinges on where Shakira lived from 2012 to 2014. Prosecutors in Barcelona have alleged the Grammy winner spent more than half of that period in Spain and should have paid taxes in the country, even though her official residence was in the Bahamas.
Over the past decade, Spanish authorities have cracked down on other high-profile figures, such as soccer stars Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, for not paying their full due in taxes.
They were both found guilty of tax evasion but both avoided prison time due to a provision that allows a judge to waive prison sentences that are under two years in length for first-time offenders.
