Rihanna has been ordered to pay her New York-based former accounts $100,000 (£64,516) to cover their travel expenses after she pulled out of a legal deposition in London at the last minute.

The pop star filed a lawsuit against bosses at Berdon Llp in Manhattan Federal Court last July (12), claiming they had failed to properly handle her cash flow and charged an above-average 22 per cent commission fee.

The defendants flew to London, where the singer's lawyers are located, to question Rihanna on 19 June (13), but she cancelled just hours before their scheduled meeting due to illness.

Last week (begs 08Jul13) Berdon Llp chiefs filed court documents alleging the Diamonds hitmaker had been lying about her health, citing Twitter.com evidence she was simply up late the night before (18Jun13) watching the Miami Heat play the San Antonio Spurs in game six of the U.S. National Basketball Association Championships.

An excerpt of the filing read, "There is ample reason to believe (Rihanna's) illness was a pretext... Internet research reflects that she sent out a 'tweet' at approximately 5 am London time. The only reasonable conclusion to reach is that (a) (Rihanna) was tired the morning of June 19, having stayed up all night, and did not want to be bothered with a deposition; or (b) this case simply is not enough of a priority for her to comply with the orders."

On Friday (12Jul13), Judge Kevin Castel ordered Rihanna to pay the legal team's travel expenses and hourly billing, as well as attend a new deposition scheduled for August (13), or risk a case dismissal, according to the New York Post.