NEW YORK, July 6 = Barbadian singing sensation Rihanna has filed a lawsuit accusing her former accountants of squandering millions of dollars and getting her audited by the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
In the lawsuit, filed in United States Federal Court in Manhattan, New York, Rihanna is seeking unspecified damages.
The lawsuit which was filed under Rihanna’s real name, Robyn Fenty, accuses the accounting firm Berdon LLP of New York and two of the company’s accountants of breach of contract and negligence, among other things.
The lawsuit says Rihanna hired Berdon as her financial manager in 2005 when she was 16 and her music career was just getting started in Barbados.
It alleges Rihanna lost millions of dollars on her 2009 “Last Girl on Earth Tour” because Berdon failed to properly manage her cash flow, expenses and touring income.
It also accuses Berdon of mismanaging Rihanna’s taxes, including failing to file United States tax returns in certain instances.
As a result of the firm’s alleged negligence, Rihanna is now being audited by the IRS for the tax years 2008 to 2010, the suit says.
It also blames Berdon with failing to uncover millions of dollars in unpaid royalties owed to Rihanna.
In addition, the suit alleges that Berdon was negligent in failing to discourage Rihanna from buying a home in Beverly Hills, California, during her money-losing “Last Girl on Earth” tour.
“Despite having earned millions of dollars in revenues during Berdon’s tenure, Fenty learned that her net income, after payment of expenses and exorbitant commissions to defendant, was a fraction of that amount,” the suit claims.
Rihanna fired Berdon in September when she learned for the first time the extent of the alleged mismanagement, the suit says.
