Shakira has opened up about settling her $15 million Spanish tax case, stating that her decision was driven by a desire to protect her children.
The Waka Waka singer agreed to pay a $7.5 million fine in her tax fraud case last year, sparing her from a potential prison term.
Shakira, however, has denied any wrongdoing and claimed in a recent letter that was published in the Spanish daily El Mundo that she was only willing to make a compromise for her two young sons, Milan, 11, and Sasha, 9.
In a letter, she noted, “I want to leave my children the legacy of a woman who explained her reasons calmly and in her own time, when she considered it necessary, not when she was forced to.”
Shakira continued, “I need them to know that I made the decisions I made to protect them, to be by their side and to get on with my life. Not out of cowardice or guilt.”
The 47-year-old singer claimed in her letter that 2023 was a challenging year for her since everyone was observing her every move in an attempt to see her "breaking down" amid her legal battle and her well-publicized split from long-time partner Gerard Piqué.
Shakira was charged with tax fraud in 2018 after it was revealed by the authorities that she had stayed in Spain from 2012 to 2014 and therefore owed around $16 million in overdue income taxes.
