This month, the world is reminded of the disparate gap between itself and its celebrities. A new data leak referred to as the Pandora Papers exposes the transactions of musicians, athletes, politicians, and businesspeople around the world. Of all the names to appear in the documents, EDM trio Swedish House Mafia revealed implications of efforts to evade taxes.
The leaked data shows how the three-piece opened an off-shore holdings firm in the British Virgin Islands. Some countries/regions, the Virgin Islands included, have significantly lower tax rates on intellectual property. Swedish House Mafia transferred the licenses for some of their biggest songs, as well as assets like the band logo, to the haven-locked business.
The Pandora Papers, for those that don’t know, refers to a massive data leak of 11.9 million documents analyzed and published by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ). It enters a timeline alongside past leaks such as the Panama Papers. These data leaks prove vital in exposing clandestine exploitations and interactions between the world’s top elite. Check the bottom of this article to learn how you can support the ICIJ’s efforts.
These Pandora Papers dig up dirt on a slew of people, from the British Royal Family to unethical capitalists. Needless to say, it may be shocking for some to discover Swedish House Mafia also involved in suspicious financial activities. How exactly did they get roped up in this?
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The Swedish House Mafia’s British Tax Scandal
According to the leaked documents, Swedish House Mafia hired a “wealth adviser” to open a letterbox company in the British Virgin Islands back in 2009. SHM Holdings LTD, as it was titled, soon became the holder of many vital copyrights. The band logo, name, and several songs, including “Don’t You Worry Child” and “Save the World” are some primary assets to note.
To make matters even more suspicious, that letterbox company’s three shares were all owned by yet another placeholder firm. This company was alternatively located on Nevis, a small Caribbean island. Known as Marsham LLC, it was owned in full by the band’s wealth advisor, who resides in Switzerland.
“Copyrights are easy to move between countries, and are therefore well suited for tax planning or, for that matter, tax evasion,” Johan Lundberg of the Swedish Tax Agency told SVT (translated from Swedish). “Some countries have low taxes on royalty income to attract so-called intellectual property rights.”
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What Does Swedish House Mafia Say?
According to Celebrity Net Worth, the Swedish House Mafia trio, Axwell, Sebastian Ingrosso, and Steve Angello, value at around $100 million. That said, the leaked documents do not show how much money actually went through SHM Holdings. And despite these findings, a spokesperson for the trio later told SVT that the venture’s purpose wasn’t intended “to withhold tax.”
These revelations come at a particularly inconvenient time for Swedish House Mafia. The three musicians closed their curtains back in 2013, and have only recently made a return to fans. And while their spokesperson claims that they dropped SHM Holdings LTD back in 2013 alongside the aforementioned wealth adviser, the firm continued to exist as recently as 2017. Perhaps it is not the actions themselves that make this detestable – granted that we can’t wholeheartedly prove wrongdoing – but rather their secretive nature. If they had nothing to hide, then this controversy would not exist, after all.
The Pandora Papers and the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists
The ICIJ is an American non-profit organization consisting of a small media team connecting a much larger network of journalists. ICIJ members reside in over 100 countries around the world. They partner with major and local publications to inform the public on broken systems and groundbreaking stories. We’ve linked their main website below, where their analyses accumulate, as well as methods to support the organization.
Learn more about the ICIJ and the Pandora Papers
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