US group ACORN on verge of bankruptcy: Report

The US liberal grass-roots group ACORN is on the brink of bankruptcy and its leaders will hold a teleconference this weekend to discuss the group's future, The New York Times reported on its website on Friday.

Citing two leaders of the group, the Times reported ACORN is suffering from "mismanagement along with a severe loss of government and membership funds."

The organisation has been reeling since a secretly recorded YouTube.com video was disseminated last September showing ACORN workers giving advice on how to flout the law to two conservative activists who posed as a pimp and a prostitute.

Employees involved in the incidents in New York were fired from the organization but have been cleared of criminal prosecution.

Since September, at least half of ACORN's 30 chapters have disbanded, the Times said. The group's large New York and California chapters have set up fresh organisations.

The US Congress voted by wide margins to prohibit the federal government from funding ACORN and the US Census Bureau ended its partnership with the group.

Republicans have long accused the group of fraud in registering voters and improperly mixing political and nonpolitical activities. ACORN, which stands for Association of Community Organisations for Reform Now, has denied the allegations.

ACORN plays a significant political role in low-income neighbourhoods and in 2008 signed up 1.3 million people to vote in areas where Democrats poll well.

The group also promotes affordable housing and fights home foreclosures as well as giving tax advice.