Is This What Nic Cage Spends Those National Treasure Checks On?!

Actor's ex-bean counter strikes back in money fight, says he tried to warn Cage about out-of-control spending

Next time we see Nicolas Cage, the Coppola-pedigreed, Oscar-winning thespian, slumming it in a craptacular explosionfest, we'll know why.

All that national treasure he unearthed is gone.

The Oscar winner's former bean counter is fighting back at allegations he ripped off the Ghost Rider star, claiming in a newly filed countersuit that Cage just can't stop spending big bucks.

Samuel Levin says by the time the actor hired him in 2001, Cage had "already squandered tens of millions of dollars he had earned as a movie star, he was deeply in debt and he owed millions of dollars in accrued but unpaid income taxes."

And what did he spend it on? Levin gives a breakdown that includes "15 palatial homes around the world, four yachts, an island in the Bahamas, a Gulfstream jet, millions of dollars in jewelry and art."

But wait, there's more! Lots more...

After examining the actor's books, Levin says he determined that Cage would have to earn at least $30 million a year just to bankroll his lavish lifestyle and give him financial stability, let alone security.

So Levin says he convinced Cage to grant him approval to sell off some assets, among them a $1.6 million comic book collection and more than a dozen cars.

But after starring in such box-office hits as National Treasure, The Ant Bully, Ghost Rider and National Treasure: Book of Secrets, Levin says the 45-year-old actor was back on a buying spree of "epic proportions."

Among some of the crazier purchases Cage blew his wad on?

• Three mansions that cost a total of $33 million, including two castles in England and Germany that required millions in renovations "just to make them habitable."
• 22 automobiles, including nine Rolls-Royces
• 47 pieces of art work and exotic items
• Huge sums spent on "sizeable entourage on costly vacations" and "enormous Gatsby-scale parties."

In his $20 million negligence suit filed against Levin last month, Cage alleged that he was kept in the dark about his out-of-control spending habits, a claim the CPA denied.

Instead Levin says that he warned the star from the start of their relationship that Cage was "living beyond his means" and was teetering on the precipice of financial disaster.

Levin is seeking $128,000 in unpaid business management fees. Cage's attorney, Marty Singer, could not be reached for comment.