Bank Of England: Beatles broke the law
The Beatles
John and George got a bit crafty with their finances
The Bank of England discovered John Lennon and George Harrison had committed financial offences – but didn’t prosecute them.
Secret documents published today (November 9) show that the Bank was intrigued by how the stars were moving big sums of cash in and out of the UK, and concluded they had broken the law, reports The Guardian.
But documents, released under freedom of information legislation, reveal it was decided not to prosecute the rock legends.
At the time transfers of money in and out of Britain were tightly controlled, in contrast to today’s looser regulations. These "exchange controls" were designed to keep the economy stable. There were limits to how much sterling individuals could take abroad and how much foreign money they could keep in Britain.
The were under investigation in 1973, and by autumn 1974 it was decided that “technical offences…had been committed” due to the minor nature of the offences. It was also pointed out that the money brought into Britain had benefited the country.
Meanwhile The release a ‘mash-up’ album of their classic songs called ‘LOVE’ on November 20.
As previously reported by NME.COM, the album was created by Sir George Martin and his son Giles Martin. The pair used master tapes of original band recordings for a collaboration with Cirque Du Soleil.
Secret documents published today (November 9) show that the Bank was intrigued by how the stars were moving big sums of cash in and out of the UK, and concluded they had broken the law, reports The Guardian.
But documents, released under freedom of information legislation, reveal it was decided not to prosecute the rock legends.
At the time transfers of money in and out of Britain were tightly controlled, in contrast to today’s looser regulations. These "exchange controls" were designed to keep the economy stable. There were limits to how much sterling individuals could take abroad and how much foreign money they could keep in Britain.
The were under investigation in 1973, and by autumn 1974 it was decided that “technical offences…had been committed” due to the minor nature of the offences. It was also pointed out that the money brought into Britain had benefited the country.
Meanwhile The release a ‘mash-up’ album of their classic songs called ‘LOVE’ on November 20.
As previously reported by NME.COM, the album was created by Sir George Martin and his son Giles Martin. The pair used master tapes of original band recordings for a collaboration with Cirque Du Soleil.
Beatles' 'Eleanor Rigby' signature auctioned offNME Alerts
Get NME news delivered direct to your desktop. Find out more
Add your comment
Please sign in to add your comments or register to have your say.