U2’s Bono among figures named in leak of tax-haven documents

In this photo, taken July 24, 2017, U2 singer Bono makes a peace sign as he arrives for a meeting at the Elysee Palace, in Paris, France. Leaked papers revealing investments in tax havens by the world’s wealthy suggest U2 frontman Bono used a company based in low-tax Malta to buy part of a shopping mall in Lithuania, it was announced on Monday Nov. 6. (Photo by MICHEL EULER / AP)

LONDON — Leaked papers revealing investments in tax havens by the world’s wealthy suggest U2 frontman Bono used a company based in low-tax Malta to buy part of a shopping mall in Lithuania.

The Guardian newspaper says the “Paradise Papers” document trove reveals that the singer was an investor in Maltese company Nude Estates, which bought the Ausra shopping center in 2007.

Bono’s spokeswoman told the paper that the rocker, whose real name is Paul Hewson, 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.”

The Irish band has faced past criticism over its tax arrangements.

In 2011, protesters inflated a giant balloon reading “U Pay Tax 2?” during U2’s set at the Glastonbury Festival.