‘Should Be You’ singer Ne-Yo has filed a lawsuit against his former manager Kevin Foster this week, suing the industry player for forging his signature and pouring his money into a failing water company at which he served as CFO, unbeknownst to the R&B hit maker.

An unfortunate tale below…

‘NY Daily News’ reveals:

Foster’s job was to manage the star’s bank accounts, “ensure Smith was financially situated as to maintain his accustomed lifestyle for the remainder of his life, protect Smith from financial ruin, and mitigate risk of frivolous spending.”

When Foster left to start his own company, Ne-Yo went with him, the suit says. The two “developed a personal relationship, with Smith eventually placing complete trust in Foster’s handling Smith and his companies’ finances and affairs,” the suit says.

But the action says he recently found out that faith was misplaced.

Ne-Yo discovered that Foster had been moved some of his money without his permission, and when he hired another accounting firm, they “uncovered instances of Foster engaging in self-dealing and inappropriate conduct.” That included forging Ne-Yo’s name on loan documents, the suit says.

Foster also sank some big bucks of Ne-Yo’s into a water company that was teetering on the edge of bankruptcy – while never telling Ne-Yo he was the company’s president and CFO, the suit says.

The suit seeks the return of the $4.5 million – plus the $3.5 million in fees Ne-Yo paid Foster over the years.

Ne-Yo’s decision to sue his former friend comes as he gears up to promote his next studio album, two years after the release of ‘R.E.D.’

Reportedly called ‘Non Fiction‘, the release will swing by in the September of this year, hopefully undisturbed by the legal drama the Grammy winning chart topper now finds himself faced with.

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