IANS
 
New York, Jan 13 (mb): Pop superstar Madonna has hit back after being accused of cheating prestigious fashion house Gucci into raising money for Kabbalah causes under the guise of helping Malawian orphans.

Madonna, who co-founded the Raising Malawi charity after adopting David Banda from the country in 2006, teamed up with Gucci to host a gala fundraiser in February. But speculation had been mounting that proceeds from the event would actually benefit the religious organisation rather than the orphans the charity had pledged to help, contactmusic.com reported.

However, a representative for the star - who has been a Kabbalah devotee since the mid-1990s - has called the rumours "outrageous, incorrect, inaccurate, hurtful and malicious".

Liz Rosenberg said: "The reality is - and it's never been a secret - that the Raising Malawi organization was co-founded by Madonna and Michael Berg, who is one of the spearheading executives of the Kabbalah organisation. The organization is completely separate from the Kabbalah, and they are run as two separate organizations.

"Accountability will be very clear and very specific, and all funds will be accounted for."