Shakira spared no expense while decorating her $15.9 Miami mansion for the holidays, just weeks after handing over more than 6.9 million to a court investigating her over another alleged tax fraud.
Despite her recent legal woes, the Colombian superstar, 46, transformed her home into a winter wonderland for her two sons, Milan, 10, and Sasha, 8, who she shares with ex-partner Gerard Piqué, by adorning her roof, palm trees and hedges with twinkly lights.
This marks her second Christmas since the end of 11-year relationship with Piqué, who she said ‘betrayed her’ while her father, William Mebarak Chadid, was in the ICU.
She reportedly discovered he was having an affair after noticing that a jar of strawberry jam had been eaten while she was away.
‘Tis the season: Shakira spared no expense while decorating her $15.9 Miami mansion for the holidays, just weeks after handing over more than 6.9 million to a court investigating her over another alleged tax fraud; seen last month
According to ShowNews Today, Shakira knew that Gerard and their children didn’t like strawberry jam, prompting her to realize that someone else had been staying at their home when she found the jar.
Shakira went onto reference that claim in a music video for her single, Te Felicito, in April, which featured a clip of a head of her collaborator Rauw Alejandro inside an open fridge.
In addition to dealing with the end of her relationship and supporting her father, who was hospitalized twice in 2022, Shakira was navigating a lawsuit claiming she had evaded taxes.
Last month, the Hips Don’t Lie hitmaker blasted Spanish authorities for targeting ‘high-profile individuals’ after she was hit with a £6.4million fine on top of a £15million tax bill for financial fraud.
Shakira was handed a seven-figure fine as part of a deal that both allows her to swerve jail time and puts an end to a lengthy fraud trial in Barcelona before it even began.
The singer, who has a net worth of roughly £240 million, insisted she was innocent but said she had made the decision to ‘spare my children seeing their mother sacrifice her well-being.’
‘I admire tremendously those who have fought these injustices to the end, but for me, today, winning is getting my time back for my kids and my career,’ she said in a statement.
She also slammed the Spanish authorities for pursuing her, saying her case was similar to others which have seen authorities go after ‘athletes and other high-profile individuals’. Such cases, she said, drain ‘those people’s energy, time, and tranquillity for years at a time.’
Festive: Despite her recent legal woes, the Colombian superstar, 46, transformed her home into a winter wonderland for her two sons, Milan, 10, and Sasha, 8, who she shares with her ex-partner Gerard Piqué, by adorning her roof, palm trees and hedges with twinkly lights
Creating her own traditions: This marks her second Christmas since the end of her 11-year relationship with Piqué, who she said ‘betrayed her’ while her father, William Mebarak Chadid, was in the ICU
The singer will be fined £6.4 million (€7.3m) for the six tax fraud crimes she confessed to as part of the deal announced in court today, less than a third of the amount prosecutors were seeking.
She had already repaid the tax which Spanish officials had accused her of dodging – which with interest on top came to nearly £15 million (€17m). She will also have to pay a fine of £378,000 (€432,000) to avoid prison.
In a statement released by her representatives after the settlement had been announced, the singer said: ‘Throughout my career, I have always strived to do what’s right and set a positive example for others.
‘That often means taking the extra step in business and personal financial decisions to procure the absolute best counsel, including seeking the advice of the world’s preeminent tax authorities PricewaterhouseCoopers International Limited and Ernst & Young Global Limited who have been my advisers during this whole process.
‘Unfortunately, and despite these efforts, tax authorities in Spain pursued a case against me as they have against many professional athletes and other high-profile individuals, draining those people’s energy, time, and tranquility for years at a time.
‘While I was determined to defend my innocence in a trial that my lawyers were confident would have ruled in my favor, I have made the decision to finally resolve this matter with the best interest of my kids at heart who do not want to see their mom sacrifice her personal well-being in this fight,’ she added.
‘I need to move past the stress and emotional toll of the last several years and focus on the things I love – my kids and all the opportunities to come in my career, including my upcoming world tour and my new album, both of which I am extremely excited about. I admire tremendously those who have fought these injustices to the end, but for me, today, winning is getting my time back for my kids and my career.’
The case was set to center on how much time the singer, whose hit singles include ‘Hips Don’t Lie’, ‘Whenever, Wherever’ and the 2010 World Cup song ‘Waka Waka’, spent in Spain between 2012 and 2014.
Last month, the Hips Don’t Lie hitmaker blasted Spanish authorities for targeting ‘high-profile individuals’ after she was hit with a £6.4million fine on top of a £15million tax bill for financial fraud; seen on November 16, 2023
Spanish authorities alleged Shakira – dubbed the Queen of Latin Pop – spent more than half of that period in Spain and therefore should have paid taxes in the country.
They said she moved to Spain after her relationship with former FC Barcelona star defender Gerard Pique became public in 2011, but maintained official tax residency in the Bahamas until 2015.
In its indictment, the prosecution claimed Shakira ‘used a set of companies’ based in tax havens ‘with the intention of not paying’ tax in Spain.
Shakira was named in the ‘Paradise Papers’ leaks that detailed the offshore tax arrangements of numerous high-profile individuals, including musical celebrities like Madonna and U2’s Bono.
The defense team for Shakira, the Barcelona-based firm Molins Defensa Penal, said in November 2022 that she had not spent more than 60 days a year inside the country during the period in question, adding she would have needed to have spent half the year in Spain to be considered a fiscal resident.
Her defense argued that she was living a ‘nomadic life’ away from Barcelona for long stretches on a world tour in 2011 and then spent a lot of time in the United States as part of a jury for the NBC television music talent show The Voice.
Shakira’s lawyers said she only moved permanently to Barcelona just before the birth of her second son in January 2015.
‘I’ve paid everything they claimed I owed, even before they filed a lawsuit. So, as of today, I owe zero to them,’ she told Elle magazine in 2022.
Finally over: Shakira was handed a seven-figure fine as part of a deal that both allows her to swerve jail time and puts an end to a lengthy fraud trial in Barcelona before it even began
Shakira defended her innocence when she was questioned by Juberías in 2019.
She lost an appeal to have the case thrown out last year.
Prosecutors were seeking a jail term of eight years and two months, and a fine of nearly 24 million euros for the singer.
Shakira’s public relations firm said she had already paid all that she owed (14.5 million euros) and an additional 3 million euros (about £2.6 million) in interest.
This, on top of the 7.6 million euro fine and the 432,000 euros to avoid jail time, comes roughly to 25.5 million euros – meaning she will have paid back slightly more than the amount prosecutors were seeking when all is said and done.
Shakira had turned down a deal offered to her by prosecutors to settle her case in July 2022, saying, via her Spanish public relations firm Llorente y Cuenca, that she ‘believes in her innocence and chooses to leave the issue in the hands of the law.’
The details of that potential deal were not made public.
