With a monosyllabic "yes" Shakira has ratified the agreement reached with the accusations to avoid holding the trial and close a matter that has dragged on for the last five years. The Colombian singer, continuing with the agreed terms, has recognized the facts and has accepted a sentence of three years in prison that will be replaced by the payment of a fine of 7.3 million euros to repair the damage caused. This is the fine print of the agreement reached between the artist's lawyers, Pau Molins and Míriam Company, and the representatives of the Prosecutor's Office, the State Attorney's Office and the Generalitat. In addition, to suspend her imprisonment she will pay 432,000 euros.
In the end, the pact has been beneficial for Shakira. Before closing, she faced paying a fine of 23.8 million euros, which has finally been reduced to 7.3 million euros. In total, for this reason Shakira will have paid almost 24 million euros for different concepts, although she could have paid almost 40. When she learned of the complaint from the Prosecutor's Office, she paid 17 million euros as part of the return of the 14.5 million. millions defrauded plus late payment interest. However, the payment of those amounts was insufficient for the Prosecutor's Office to back down.
Before signing the agreement, the accusations demanded that Shakira receive eight years in prison and a fine of 23.8 million euros for six tax crimes. She is accused of having evaded 14.5 million euros between 2012 and 2014, considering that during that period she was already living in Barcelona and therefore she had to pay taxes to the Spanish Treasury. In addition, they consider that the singer created a network of shell companies to divert money and hide her income and her assets.
The Colombian singer appeared in court at ten in the morning and upon entering the courtroom responded "here we go" when journalists asked her how she was. The court has been formed with all the parties and has been presided over by magistrate José Manuel del Amo, the same one who tried and acquitted Neymar. In just five minutes the matter was aired. Shakira approached the microphone, said that she accepted the agreed agreement, it was read and then the trial was concluded.
In a statement, the Colombian singer justified the agreement reached "in order to put an end to the process; and thus avoid the impact of media exposure and the trial time, which is often of exhausting length." "I felt ready to stand trial and defend my innocence. My lawyers were convinced that we had a winning trial. However, after many years of fighting, I have made this decision. I had two options: keep fighting until the end, mortgaging my peace of mind and that of my children, stopping making songs, albums and tours, without being able to enjoy my career and the things I like, or agree, close and leave behind this chapter of my life looking forward. I have come to the conclusion that it is not a triumph to win if the price is having so many years of your life stolen," he assured.
But despite the desire she had to prove her innocence, Shakira wanted to avoid the wear and tear that comes with the public exposure of her entire private life during the twelve sessions of the trial that were planned and has prioritized paying attention to her children and turning the page on this whole thing. “I have to choose my battles and the most important one for me now is to do everything so that my children live a full life and focus on what is really important: seeing them grow and spending time with them, without subjecting them to the anguish of seeing their mother in a criminal trial with the wear and tear that entails. They themselves have asked me, and I have made this decision for them. They have lived through very hard times and I want them to finally see me happy and look forward together to the future,” the statement reads. And she concludes: "this decision to agree is based on personal, emotional and sentimental reasons that have nothing to do with legal matters."
