Selena Gomez 'vigorously defends' fraud accusations in legal battle

Selena Gomez has broken her silence after facing accusations of fraud by investors in the challenged company Wondermind, which she co-founded with her mother Mandy Teefey and their former business partner Daniella Pierson.

Mathew S. Rosengart, the litigator of the 34-year-old American actress and singer, told PEOPLE magazine, “The allegations that Selena Gomez engaged in any way whatsoever in any purported ‘fraud’ or other wrongdoing are completely meritless, both factually and legally.”

“We will vigorously defend these false allegations and indeed are filing a motion to dismiss the baseless claims against her,” he stated.

According to legal documents obtained by the outlet, two companies, Bespoke Wondermind LLC and Wondermind SRS 44 LLC, filed a lawsuit against Gomez, Teefey, and Pierson earlier this week and claimed that they “falsely represented” the startup’s infrastructure, resources, and leadership.

The investors invested approximately $1.2 million into the company but Wondermind had started struggling last year, which they found out from a story in The Cut, as anonymous former employees did not find Teefey a suitable person to be the CEO.

Notably, Forbes also claimed last year in May that the company could not even pay its workers and when this was brought to Gomez’s attention, she took immediate action, as a source told PEOPLE.

The insider revealed at that time, “Selena has invested millions of dollars over the years into Wondermind to support her mother and their shared passion for mental health, including when she was alerted about the most recent financial setback, and immediately invested more money as she’s not involved in the day-to-day operations.”

“To invest in the future of the company, Mandy has chosen to take the lead here with a personal loan to invest in the future of the company,” the source said.