Shakira faces second tax fraud investigation in Spain 

Colombian singer Shakira will face a second investigation for alleged tax fraud in Spain, a court near Barcelona confirmed on Thursday.

The Barcelona Prosecutor’s Office is accusing the pop star of defrauding Spain’s tax agency during the 2018 financial year when she lived in Barcelona with her ex-partner, soccer player Gerard Pique.  

She is currently living in between the Catalonian city in Northeastern Spain and Miami. 

A spokesperson for Shakira said that she “had not yet received any formal notification of the Prosecutor’s complaint.” 

Her legal team “will not make any comments until the notification reaches them through the official and legally established channels,” the spokesperson added. “She must be notified personally at her new address, in strict accordance with the provisions of the Law.”

A Spanish judge agreed with the state prosecutors to investigate the 2018 tax fraud cases. It is still unclear how much money is in question. 

This is the second tax fraud investigation Shakira is facing. She was previously accused of allegedly failing to pay $13.9 million in taxes on income she earned from 2012 to 2014.

Despite having her official residence in the Bahamas, the Grammy winner spent more than half of that period in Spain. Prosecutors claim that the tie period spent in Spain was enough to make her liable to pay taxes. 

She is set to face trial in the near future, after “sufficient evidence” was found of her alleged tax evasion. 

The singer has denied the accusations, telling Elle magazine during an interview that they were “false accusations.”

Spain has previously accused other celebrities of failing to pay their taxes, including soccer players Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, who were found guilty of tax evasion but were able to avoid prison sentences.