Cristian Gonzalez
There are Latin stars who are icons not only in Latin America, but also worldwide. They have made us dance with their songs, and they have built up a fan base that idolizes them. The latter, included with all their effort, has contributed to them amassing immense fortunes.
Still, it’s not all good news, and these Latin artists have been in the eye of the storm for not having such a good fiscal management. This has become a common pattern to follow for artists and athletes that incur in this type of crime through companies in tax havens, which purchase properties, manage millionaire profits and do countless tricks to avoid paying taxes.
Latino stars evading taxes
We bring you a list of 5 Latin stars who have fallen into the hands of tax evasion:
Shakira
It became known in July of this year that the Spanish Public Prosecutor’s Office formalized an accusation against the beloved Colombian singer, Shakira. In this document they requested a sentence of eight years and two months in prison for the amount of six crimes of tax evasion, which amount to 14.5 million euros.
In addition, the Colombian singer was accused by Pandora Papers,for being one of the OMC Group’s most loyal clients, which is a Panamanian firm in which artists do what we could call shady tax dealings, and in which the singer is listed as the owner of three companies in the British Virgin Islands between 1999 and 2002.
Alejandra Guzman
The whole issue of singer Alejandra Guzman’s evasion revolves around the acquisition of a very luxurious apartment in Miami, a deal made through Frida Enterprises Corp, another of the companies created in the British Virgin Islands through the Panamanian law firm Aleman, Cordero, Galindo and Lee. In addition, since 2014, the Mexican singer is the sole shareholder of Frida Enterprises Corp, and in 2018 she joined Frida Enterprises Inc to acquire a building in Florida.
Lionel Messi
In addition to artists, as we mentioned at the beginning, sportsmen also often do this kind of tricks to evade taxes.
The Argentine soccer player was charged with three tax offenses, for defrauding the Spanish tax authorities for the amount of 4.1 million euros in 2007, 2008 and 2009, when he failed to pay taxes on income of 10.1 million euros that he received from image rights in Spain, acompanied by his father. Both were sentenced to 21 months in prison, which was later reduced to 15 months, although their prison sentences were suspended.
Chayanne
The “Papá de Latino America”, known and loved by everyone around the world for his songs that put the name of Latin music at the very top, was the owner of a Panamanian corporation called Fentress International S.A. between 2001 and 2013, company through which he could represent himself, get paid, borrow and enter into contracts worldwide.
Then, he created another company called Eloisa Investments LLC in Florida through another firm of the Panamanian firm we already mentioned, the OMC Group. His wife is the shareholder and the director of the company, a company that owns a luxurious apartment in Miami.
Luis Miguel
Luis Miguel was charged for not paying taxes on a luxurious property in Florida. This property amounted to a deduction of $132 thousand dollars. Like the other cases, in 2013 he formed a company called Skyfall Marine Ltd in the Virgin Islands, to buy the Sky, a 25-meter luxury yacht. His brother is a director of the company. In 2017 his boat was repossessed for debts of $11 million.
