Romeo Santos Sues BDO USA for Malpractice, Seeks $2.3 Million in Damages

Bachata star Romeo Santos has filed a lawsuit in the United States against accounting firm BDO USA, alleging professional malpractice that he says cost him at least $2.3 million in damages.

The complaint was lodged on Wednesday (Aug. 12) in New York. Santos, whose full name is Anthony Santos, accuses the firm of “gross negligence” spanning nearly every financial function it was hired to perform, from paying taxes to filing returns.

Years of Alleged Negligence

Santos first retained the firm Morrison Brown Argiz & Farra LLP in 2016, drawn by its pitch as an entertainment-industry specialist capable of managing the complex finances of a global touring artist. BDO acquired the practice in 2021. According to the lawsuit, the firm’s failures included botching his New York state taxes with an “incoherent” filing that triggered a costly audit, and failing to claim credits for foreign taxes already withheld from his royalties.

“The withholding was no secret: it appeared on the face of the royalty statements in BDO’s files,” the suit states. “Yet year after year, the credits went unclaimed.”

James Sammataro of Pryor Cashman, representing Santos, wrote that the firm “delivered instead was gross negligence, year after year.”

Unauthorized Withdrawal After Firing

Santos terminated BDO in 2023. The lawsuit claims that immediately afterward, the firm withdrew money from his account without authorization to pay its own fees. “The episode is a fitting coda to the engagement: the firm that could not manage to remit Santos’ taxes on time remitted its own fee without delay, after it was fired from his account, without asking,” the filing reads. “To this day, BDO has not returned the money.”

The damages sought stem from tax penalties and interest, the unapproved withdrawal, the cost of hiring new accountants to rectify the issues, and lost value from other professional missteps.

Prior Legal Action Against BDO

Santos is not the first music figure to take legal action against BDO. In 2022, rapper Fat Joe filed a lawsuit alleging the firm and two employees engaged in fraud that bore the “hallmarks of a Ponzi scheme.” That case was settled on confidential terms in 2024.

Santos rose to fame as the lead singer of bachata group Aventura, which placed 13 songs in the top 10 of the Hot Latin Songs chart. His solo career, launched in 2011, has produced seven chart-topping hits on that tally, including “Odio” featuring Drake and “Promise” featuring Usher.

A BDO spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Thursday (Aug. 13).