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Bono used offshore firm to ‘invest in shopping centre’

The U2 frontman was one of the celebrities named in the Paradise Papers

Bono is just one of a number of celebrities that has allegedly been named in the Paradise Papers.

In information contained in a vast leak of financial papers, obtained by German newspaper Suddeutsche Zeitung, it’s alleged that the U2 frontman used a firm based in Malta, which is a low-tax jurisdiction, to pay for a share in a shopping centre based in Lithuania.

According to the papers, the Irish rock star, real name Paul Hewson, invested in Maltese company Nude Estates to buy a stake in the Ausra Mall in the town of Utena, shortly after it opened in 2007.

Bono’s spokeswoman told the Guardian, “Bono was a passive, minority investor in Nude Estates Malta Ltd, a company that was legally registered in Malta until it was voluntarily wound up in 2015.

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“Malta is a well-established holding company jurisdiction within the EU.”

The Paradise Papers give an insight into how some of the biggest companies, and the world’s most powerful people, invest offshore.

According to the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), the investigation involves 13.4 million documents, 94 media partners and more than 120 politicians and world leaders.

The papers also contain details relating to the estate of Queen Elizabeth’s, and how the funds are invested.

John Rainford/WENN.com

Millions of pounds from Queen Elizabeth’s estate, the Duchy of Lancaster, had reportedly been invested in a Cayman Islands fund as part of an offshore portfolio never before disclosed.

The Guardian has reported that the Duchy had used offshore private equity funds designed to shield investors in the UK from having to pay US tax on their holdings.

A spokesman for Buckingham Palace declined to comment, however a spokeswoman for the Duchy of Lancaster said, “We operate a number of investments and a few of these are with overseas funds. All of our investments are fully audited and legitimate.”

They also said that Queen Elizabeth voluntarily pays tax on any income received from the Duchy.
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