Colombian singer Shakira has reached a financial settlement to circumvent a tax fraud trial in Spain. As part of the agreement, she will pay a fine totaling €7.3 million euros, roughly equivalent to $7.9 million, representing half of the alleged tax amount. Shakira has promptly reimbursed the full sum of $15.6 million, an action stipulated in the accord.

This resolution emerged following a last-minute deal submission by all involved parties, effectively avoiding a trial, which the judge disclosed at the onset of the court proceedings. In response, Shakira, through her communication team, expressed readiness to confront a trial to defend her innocence. However, she underscored that the victory wouldn’t be meaningful if it came at the expense of losing precious years of her life.

The Grammy-winning artist, hailing from Colombia, faced accusations of evading Spanish income taxes exceeding $15 million between 2012 and 2014. Shakira has consistently refuted these allegations, maintaining that she wasn’t a resident of Spain during the mentioned period.

In a separate development, a bottle of the revered Macallan 1926 whiskey, hailed as the “most sought-after Scotch whiskey,” fetched a staggering sum of over $2.7 million at an auction held by Sotheby’s in London. This particular whiskey, aged for six decades in sherry casks, is one among a collection of 40 bottles. Sotheby’s has noted that this vintage Macallan stands as the oldest of its kind ever produced.

This sale marks a record-breaking transaction, surpassing the prior highest sale set in 2019, when a bottle of Macallan sold for $1.9 million.