Bjorn Ulvaeus, one quarter of super group Abba, is facing charges from regulators that he failed to pay more than $11.5 million in taxes on song royalties.
According to local newspapers, the Swedish Tax Board has accused Ulvaeus of using an offshore tax haven to avoid paying the country's income tax. Sweden's income taxes, with a top rate of nearly 60 percent, are among the highest in the world.
The board said that Ulvaeus, 60, signed over his music production royalties, along with his wealth from Abba's heyday in the 1970s, to a network of trusts in Holland and an island endowment off the west coast of Britain. The board alleges that the bulk of the fraud occurred between 1998 and 2003 when Ulvaeus was operating from Sweden, meaning that the royalties should be taxed at the country's rate.
A lawyer for Ulvaeus said the musician would appeal the board's decision.
Abba broke up in 1983, but Ulvaeus and band mate Benny Andersson went on to write the hit musicals "Chess" and "Mamma Mia!," and are involved in other business ventures, including music production and hotels.
