'Bankrupt' Edelsten claims mother helped pay $1.5m in expenses

Geoffrey Edelsten has claimed his lavish lifestyle these days is funded by his mother and some "generous friends".

Mr Edelsten is filing for bankruptcy in the US, and has been forced to disclose his spending over the past nine months in court, the Courier-Mail has reported.

He spent $1.5 million in the past eight months on expenses such as luxury hotels, first-class overseas flights and designer clothes for his partners, including girlfriend Gabi Grecko and former wife Brynne Edelsten.

However, he claimed the money he has spent was not his.

"I didn’t pay for these expenses, they were paid for by mother and other people close to me," he said.

"My mother has contributed a lot of money, she didn’t like seeing me being sad."

He said he would repay "every dollar" she had contributed, despite admitting to owing millions in tax in Australia, and thousands of dollars to Australian corporations.

The 71-year-old filed for bankruptcy in January amid a dispute with business partners.