Colombian pop star Shakira has reached a deal with Spanish prosecutors to settle a tax fraud case, just as her trial was about to begin.
The singer has paid a €7.5m (£6.5m) fine – prosecutors had wanted to jail her for eight years and fine her €23.8m (£20.8m) if found guilty.
She had faced tax fraud allegations for €14.5m (£12.7m) in a Barcelona court.
Shakira, who has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing, said she settled “with the best interest of my kids at heart”.
In a lengthy statement, she said her children “do not want to see their mom sacrifice her personal well-being in this fight”.
The performer had previously rejected a deal offered by prosecutors, instead opting to go to trial.
The case centred around where Shakira was living between 2012 and 2014
She added she needed 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”.
At the centre of this row is Shakira’s residency status between 2012 and 2014, when prosecutors alleged that she was living in Spain but listing her official residence elsewhere.
Under Spanish law, people who spend more than six months in the country are considered residents for tax purposes. But Shakira says Spain was not where she was mainly living at the time.
In July, prosecutors issued a document which claimed that she bought a house in Barcelona in 2012, which became a family home for her and her then-partner, Barcelona footballer Gerard Piqué.
Her lawyers have said that up until 2014 most of her income came from international tours and she spent long chunks of time outside of Spain.
Shakira declared Spain to be her place of residence for tax purposes in 2015. She said she has paid €17.2m (£15m) in tax and has no outstanding debts.
In a separate case in 2019, Mr Piqué was fined €2.1m (£1.8m) by the Spanish national court for evading tax between 2008 and 2010.
The couple announced in early June that they had split up after 11 years. They have two sons together, aged seven and nine.
