An appeal has been registered by attorney Michael Berg, representative of the embattled ex-members of Ghost who claim the band's main man Tobias Forge withheld funds from them following their tenure in the popular group. The plaintiffs began the suit in early 2017, seeking approximately $22,000 in money they claim they are entitled to in lieu of the fixed salary Forge paid them. After the parties failed to reach a settlement in November 2017, the judge in the case granted Forge the victory in October and stuck the four with their former bandleader's legal fees, an amount upwards of SEK 1.3 million or approximately $145,00 USD.

The former band members began the appeal process after the ruling last month, and now their attorney claims judge Henrik Ibold was "being disloyal" to his judicial duties and showing favoritism to Forge as the two both reportedly belong to the Freemasons, a centuries-old fraternal organization that describes itself as "beautiful system of morality, veiled in allegory and illustrated by symbols." Ibold denies the claims, but admitted to a Swedish newspaper that he had heard rumors of Forge's potential membership in the same order as him: The Swedish Freemasonry Order. When the same paper contacted Forge's lawyer, she refused to comment. As of now, judge Göta Hovrätt has not made a decision on whether to try the case in appeals court.