Country singers, the Dixie Chicks, have filed a lawsuit against their recording company, Sony Corp., alleging "fraudulent accounting gimmicks" that cheated the group out of approximately $4 million.

The singing group paid for an audit of their royalty account at Sony, although the name of the firm or people performing the audit has not been released.

In the lawsuit, which was filed in New York federal court, the group claims that Sony underreported sales figures and overcharged for company services. The suit lists 30 separate instances in which the girls claim they were not paid for amounts they were owed.

Specific complaints alleged in the lawsuit include claims that Sony held back too much money in reserve against possible returns of albums from record stores, under-calculated royalty payments, deducted excessive charges for services, created a "phony deficit" in album sales, and withheld the group's share of an MP3 settlement.

Meanwhile, Sony has indicated it believes the lawsuit to be a "sham" attempt to sever the singers' contract.