The heart of pop star Shakira’s business empire is vested in a Malta-based company, recent court documents related to a law suit filed by her former boyfriend and business partner have shown.

The company, Tournesol Limited, is wholly owned by Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll and has a share capital of €3.02 million. Tournesol Limited, a limited liability company, is, in turn, the sole owner of the Luxemburg-based ACE Entertainment, through which the majority of the Columbian star’s business is funnelled.

The information was recently made public in a court case lodged by her former business partner Antonio de La Rua, the son of former Argentine President Fernando de la Rua, who is claiming US$100 million from Shakira following their business break-up, which followed their romantic break-up.

Shakira was listed by Forbes recently as the world’s 52nd-most powerful woman.

A judge in Geneva this week rejected a request from Shakira’s ex-boyfriend seeking access to one of her bank accounts. De La Rua claims he should have access to one of the Colombian singer's accounts because it holds most of the assets from their business partnership.

The judge, however, has ruled that Shakira is the account’s sole owner.

De La Rua worked as one of Shakira's business advisers and he said they established an oral agreement to work professionally following their romantic split in 2011.

The judge said de La Rua does not have enough evidence to prove the two reached a professional agreement and that there are no written agreements.

De La Rua has been waging an international fight against the singer, saying he shaped the ‘Shakira brand’. He has filed lawsuits in New York and Los Angeles.

De La Rua dated Shakira for more than a decade and worked on some of her business deals.

Shakira continued to work with De La Rua in a business capacity following their split in 2010, but ended their working relationship in 2011. He suspects he was axed due to Shakira’s budding relationship with Barcelona football star Gerard Pique, with whom she had her first child, son Milan, in January.