Ginuwine Heading For Bankruptcy

R&B star Ginuwine is on the verge of bankruptcy, according to his lawyer.

The singer's attorney made the revelation during a court hearing in New York City as part of a legal battle with music producer Robert Reives, the brains behind Ginuwine's 1996 debut album, Ginuwine... The Bachelor.

During the pre-trial hearing, the lawyer representing Ginuwine, real name Elgin Lumpkin, disclosed the star's financial troubles, blaming the problems on his recent divorce from his rapper wife Sole, according to the New York Daily News.

Attorney Bruce Beckner told Manhattan Federal Court, "Mr. Lumpkin is very close to declaring bankruptcy. He owes my firm a ton of money and a bunch of other people a ton of money. He owes Uncle Sam (the U.S. government) 300-odd thousand dollars in back income taxes."

Reives is suing Ginuwine for as much as $250,000 (£156,250) in royalties which he claims he is owed from the star's five-album deal with Sony Records. His attorney, Mike Meier, cast doubt on Ginuwine's financial problems in court documents, which read, "Despite the repeated representations before the court of defendant's counsel that defendant has lost his large fortune ... defendant has spared no expense in this proceeding to try every angle and every new legal theory his lawyers could come up with."