Two decades after Lou Pearlman launched the Backstreet Boys, the pop stars are still dealing with the fallout from the one-time music mogul’s fraud, the Wall Street Journal reported yesterday. Pearlman is now serving a 25-year prison sentence for running a multimillion-dollar Ponzi scheme while his bankruptcy is drawing to a close. Shortly after a plan to pay Pearlman’s creditors and cheated investors was filed in bankruptcy court, the trustee overseeing the case filed objections to some $3.5 million in claims that the Backstreet Boys—Nick Carter, Howie Dorough, Brian Littrell, A.J. McLean and Kevin Richardson—filed against their ex-manager nearly six years ago. The claims, for reimbursement of legal fees BSB racked up in lawsuits involving Pearlman and his record company, lack the evidence needed to support them, according to bankruptcy trustee Soneet Kapila. Kapila is also objecting to the nearly $26,000 claim of Aaron Carter, Nick Carter’s brother and a solo artist once signed to Pearlman’s record label, for the same reasons. The Orlando, Fla., bankruptcy court will review Kapila’s creditor-payment plan at a July 17 hearing.
