According to media reports, a Spanish judge sees "sufficient indications" for a criminal trial for tax evasion of Colombian pop singer Shakira.
The public prosecutor's office in Barcelona accuses the 44-year-old of not paying a total of 14.5 million euros (17.2 million dollars) in taxes due in Spain between 2012 and 2014. The singer - famous for hits like 'Waka Waka' and 'Hips don't lie' - denies this.
If an out-of-court settlement is not reached, Shakira could end up in the dock and be sentenced to prison, the newspaper La Vanguardia wrote on Thursday.
The background to the dispute is the question of where Shakira was liable to pay taxes in those years.
The public prosecutor's office assumes that the artist lived in Spain for more than half of the year in each of the three years, namely for more than 183 days. This would have meant that she would have had to pay tax on her worldwide income in Spain.
Tax residence
However, Shakira has repeatedly stressed that she did not have her tax residence in Spain but in the Bahamas in the years 2012 to 2014 and only travelled to Spain from time to time.
Shakira has been dating Spanish football star Gerard Pique for 10 years and has two children with the FC Barcelona professional.
According to her own statements, she has only officially lived in Spain since 2015.
