Pretty pop star Rihanna nearly went broke based on bad advice from her accountant, according to new federal court filings.
Rihanna, suing under her real name Robyn Fenty, said bean counter Peter Gouins and the firm Berdon LLP gave her the green light to buy a $7 million Southern California house even though she was bleeding cash in 2009.
“The defendants advised Ms. Fenty by email that purchasing a home in Los Angeles `would be a good investment’ despite knowing Ms. Fenty was experiencing financial difficulties,” wrote Rihanna’s lawyer Edward Estrada.
“Ms. Fenty’s cash investment positions had decreased from over $11 million in January 2009 to approximately $2 million at the end of 2009.”
Furthermore, according to the songbird’s lawyers, Gouins was aware the house she was buying was rotting from water and mold damage.
“Ms. Gouins failed to disclose these issues to Ms. Fenty and instead allowed her to spend over $1 million on improvements and renovations, even though it was not prudent to continue renovating … as the overall costs of the property far exceeded its value due to the defects and damage,” Estrada wrote.
“Ultimately [the house] was uninhabitable, and Ms. Fenty suffered a significant monetary loss when she ultimately sold the property for nearly $2 million less than what she paid.”
Rihanna fired the accountants and sued them in 2012.
The new numbers, detailing the depths of her financial struggles, were in court papers filed in late December.
The federal civil lawsuit has been limping through the system with Rihanna blowing off depositions and court-ordered mediation sessions.