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Pop superstar Rihanna sued her former accountants yesterday accusing them of losing tens of millions of dollars on the singer’s tours.
The lawsuit - filed under her real name Robyn Fenty in Manhattan Federal Court - accuses Berdon LLP of New York and two of the company’s accountants of breach of contract and negligence among other claims.
The suit says Rihanna, 24, hired Berdon as her financial manager in 2005 when she was 16 and her music career was just getting off the ground in her native Barbados.
It alleges Rihanna lost millions of dollars on her smash hit 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 and failing to file some tax returns.
As a result Rihanna is now being audited by the IRS for the tax years 2008 to 2010, it is claimed.
The suit also blames Berdon with failing to uncover millions of dollars in unpaid royalities owed to the singer.
It even accuses the company of negligence for failing to discourage Rihanna from buying a home in Beverly Hills. The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages.
The suit claims: “Despite having earned millions of dollars in revenues during Berdon’s tenure Fenty learned that her net income after payment of expenses and exorbitant commissiones to defendant was a fraction of that amount.”
The court papers reveal Rihanna fired Berdon in September when she learned the extent of the alleged mismanagement.
