Shakira, during the performance at the Superbowl. MIKE BLAKE (Reuters)
The Prosecutor's Office offered Shakira a minimum prison sentence and, in addition, the substitution of that sentence for the payment of a fine, as judicial sources have explained to EL PAÍS.
That is one of the clauses that appears in the last offer made by the public ministry to the Colombian artist to avoid trial for tax fraud.
Shakira rejected the proposal on Wednesday morning considering it disproportionate and she is about to go to trial for the alleged fraud of 14.5 million euros to the Treasury.
With no agreement in sight, the Public Prosecutor's Office presents her indictment this week, in which it proposes prison sentences that, if convicted, could lead to her effective entry into prison.
Shakira's lawyer and the accusations present in the case - the Prosecutor's Office, the State Attorney's Office and the Generalitat - have held conversations, face-to-face and virtual, during the last weeks.
The objective was to try to find an agreement so that all parties would benefit.
The singer would get a reduced sentence that would prevent her from going to prison – that was a premise that was clear from the beginning – and would avoid her trial and media exposure.
The accusations, on her part, would make her accept her responsibility in the facts and the payment of a millionaire fine.
But the chances of reaching an agreement have vanished after, this Wednesday, Shakira's defense rejected the latest proposal from the Prosecutor's Office, which the singer describes as "intransigent".
The rejected proposal contemplated prison sentences of less than two years in prison thanks to the application of mitigating circumstances such as repairing the damage: the artist has consigned more than 17 million euros in court to face her possible responsibility in the event of sentence.
With an addition: the Prosecutor's Office was open not only to accept the suspension of the execution of the sentence —that is, that the prisoner would not take place— but to replace it with the payment of a fine.
The Penal Code allows prison to be replaced by a fine (or by work for the benefit of the community) for sentences of less than two years.
During the conversations, Shakira's defense raised two proposals, both unacceptable for the accusations.
According to judicial sources, in these approaches the artist delegated her responsibility to her tax advisors and avoided assuming full responsibility for the alleged fraud against the Treasury.
According to the thesis of the accusation, between 2012 and 2014 the investigated already lived in Spain and, therefore, she should have paid her taxes (IRPF and Patrimony) in Spain.
With the acceptance of the other accusations, the Prosecutor's Office also raised two offers;
the last one, with a significant reduction in the prison sentence and also in the fine associated with the six crimes for which she is accused.
Another of the objectives of the defense was to prevent Shakira from submitting to an oral hearing that would attract great media attention.
As the case focuses on whether or not he lived in Barcelona, a multitude of witnesses will necessarily parade through the room, explaining his daily life in the city: his time in beauty salons, his expenses with credit cards, the rental of recording studios or the medical care at the Teknon clinic when she was pregnant with her first child.
The Prosecutor's Office even offered the possibility of ratifying the agreement by electronic signature, which would prevent him from going to the City of Justice.
Without an agreement, it is up to the Prosecutor's Office to make a move once the Barcelona Court confirmed that there is sufficient evidence to go to trial.
The brief will be presented in court this Friday and contains significant prison sentences and a fine for Shakira, according to the same sources.
The presentation of the brief will lead the judge to dictate an oral trial order, so that, in the hypothetical case that a last-minute agreement occurs, Shakira must still attend the day of the trial to ratify the agreement.