German tax agents have raided the offices and mansion of the rock band Scorpions in connection with allegations the group evaded $5.67 million in taxes.
The Scorpions - five Germans whose single "Winds of Change" made the charts in Europe and America last year - have been linked to a scheme to defraud the government of tax revenues from concerts and from the 14 million records the group has sold.Some 50 tax agents took part in the raids, officials in Hanover said. Tax agents carried off business records in about 100 packing crates.
Scorpions attorney Peter Amend declined to comment on what he called "a surprise move" by tax agents.
The group, founded in 1971, made headlines this spring when they fired bass guitarist Francis Buchholz. Personal reasons were cited at the time, but reports since then have pointed out that Buch-holz had long taken care of the group's finances.
Germany's mass-circulation newspaper Bild claimed tax agents were investigating the possibility that Buchholz and a tax consultant had funneled money into phony busi-nesses.
Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service