U2 lead singer Bono has released a statement to the BBC and The Guardian regarding his finances after the Paradise Papers leak.
The singer, born Paul Hewson, came under scrutiny last week after it was revealed that a Lithuanian shopping mall that he partly owns had apparently dodged paying tens of thousands of pounds in taxes.
Bono ended up partly owning the shopping centre thanks to his role as a stake-owner in a Maltese holding firm called Nude Estates Malta Ltd.
The Dublin man has now responded to the controversy by distancing himself from any possible wrongdoing. In a statement to the BBC, Bono said:
“I would be extremely distressed if, even as a passive minority investor in UAB2 in Lithuania, anything less than exemplary was done with my name anywhere near it. I’ve been assured by those running the company that it is fully tax compliant, but if that is not the case I want to know as much as the tax office does, and so I also welcome the audit they have said they will undertake.”
“I take this stuff very seriously. I have campaigned for the beneficial ownership of offshore companies to be made transparent. Indeed, this is why my name is on documents rather than in a trust. The fact is I welcome this reporting. It shouldn’t take leaks to understand what’s going on where.”
“There should be public registries so that the press and public can see what governments, like Guernsey, already know.”
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