blmeanie:why would the person replacing Paul not want his own credit all these years?
First of all, there may be more than one "fake Paul." If one of them admits to the hoax, they might all be forced to. This could lead to major legal repercussions. Angry fans could file lawsuits at the deception. Some fans might even require emergency psychiatric treatment considering that they'd been lied to all these years. Imagine the horror of believing Paul to be real and rudely and shockingly learning that he was not.
I've read various articles about the fake Paul or Pauls. A fake Paul is commonly referred to as "Faul."
It has been alleged that more than one imposter was needed in order to convincingly mask the absence of the real Paul, who was an extremely talented individual and songwriter. A team of secret writers then produced the song catalog which successfully mimicked the song style of the real Paul. All of these writers could lose out on their secretly-paid royalties if it were revealed that they had been writing Paul's songs all these years. They might also be blamed for the declining sales and fan appeal of Paul's solo albums after the 1980s.
Also, how would fans feel about the Beatles if they knew they'd been lied to in such a major way? I dare say that the fake Paul or Pauls need to maintain his/their secrecy both for their sakes and ours, the fans who continue to revere them despite the passing of almost a half century!!