“I’m starting to believe it should be illegal to deceive a woman’s heart,†sang Shakira in her 2005 Carlos Santana collaboration, “Illegal.†You know what else is illegal? Tax fraud. On July 27, the Colombian singer rejected a settlement deal offered by Spanish prosecutors in the case of her alleged tax evasion totaling €14.5 million. Shakira will now go to trial, and according to the According to AP, prosecutors are seeking to sentence her with eight years and two months in jail as well as a fine of €24 million.
Prosecutors allege that between 2012 and 2014, the “Waka Waka†singer lived for more than half of each year in Spain with her (now) ex-boyfriend Gerard Piqué, with whom she has two children. However, Shakira listed her primary residence as a private island in the Bahamas, which she co-owns with Roger Waters. They’d bought it in 2011 with the intent of turning it into a luxury artist retreat, but it seems like the Spanish government believes the most significant structure she built on it was … a tax shelter. According to AP, Shakira’s public-relations reps say she has already deposited what she owes, “including 3 million euros in interest.†No date has been set for trial. The only question is if she’ll swear to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth on a Bible or on her hips.