U2’s Bono, rock star champion of the poor, ‘distressed’ by tax avoidance claims in Paradise Papers
The Irish singer owns a stake in a Maltese company that bought a shopping centre via a Lithuanian holding company
U2 frontman Bono said he was “distressed” by leaked documents showing he invested in a Lithuanian shopping centre which may have broken tax rules, but welcomed reporting on the issue.
The enterprise, in the Lithuanian city of Utena, is now under investigation for possible tax avoidance, after it allegedly avoided paying £41,500 (US$54,500) in local taxes using an unlawful accounting technique, they reported.
Bono – whose real name is Paul David Hewson – was “extremely distressed if even as a passive minority investor … anything less than exemplary was done with my name anywhere near it”, he said in a statement obtained by the BBC and The Guardian.
The singer said he had been “assured by those running the company that it is fully tax compliant”, they reported.
