Back in October 2018, four ex-members of Ghost – Simon Söderberg, Mauro Rubino, Henrik Palm and Martin Hjertstedt – had their lawsuit dismissed by the Linköping District Court against frontman Tobias Forge. The ex-members claimed that Forge had been collecting all the royalties and revenue from the band's merchandise and touring but never provided other band members with any financial statements. The dismissal also required the ex-bandmates to pay Forge 1.3 million kronor (about $145,000) for his legal fees.
After the dismissal, the ex-members said they would be appealing, and part of that appeal was that they felt the judge had a conflict of interest. According to the appeal, both Forge and judge Henrik Ibold belong to the Swedish Order Of Freemasons, and the allegation is that this made Ibold favor Forge in the suit.
Now according to Corren, the courts have rejected the claims of conflict of interest. The courts state that both Forge and Ibold being part of the Swedish Order Of Freemasons did not break any laws, though they do mention the duo would've made it known they belonged to the same fraternal organization prior to the conflict claims.
In related news, Ghost is plotting to have a new record out sometime in 2020.
[via The PRP]
