Latin American superstar Shakira has rejected an agreement offered by the Prosecutor’s Office on a case in which she is accused of tax fraud in Spain for 14.5 million euros, after which she is one step closer to go to trial, her communication team said on Wednesday.
The Colombian singer Shakira – who has sold more than 80 million records worldwide with hits like “Hips Don’t Lie” – has always complied with all her tax obligations, according to the statement from Shakira’s team, which considers the case ” a total violation of their rights.
“The singer fully trusts her innocence and therefore does not accept a consent,” the statement said.
Terms of the proposed deal were not disclosed.
The Barcelona prosecutor’s office did not respond to a request for comment.
Shakira is accused of failing to pay 14.5 million euros ($14.7 million) in income tax between 2012 and 2014, a period in which Shakira’s representatives say she did not live in Spain.
The 45-year-old singer — nicknamed “the queen of Latin music” — says she moved to Barcelona in 2015, where she lived with FC Barcelona soccer club defender Gerard Piqué. They have two children and have recently separated.
Shakira says that, although her legal team did not agree with the alleged debt, she paid the 17.2 million that the Spanish Tax Agency stated she owed, so she has not had any outstanding debt with the treasury for many years.
The court has yet to formally send her to trial and set a date.